περισπασμός

Ancient Greek

FWOTD – 12 September 2023

Etymology

From περῐσπᾰ́ω (perĭspắō, “to wheel around”) +‎ -μός (-mós).

Pronunciation

 

• IPA^(key): /pe.ris.paz.mós/ → /pe.ris.pazˈmos/ → /pe.ris.pazˈmos/

• (5^th BCE Attic) IPA^(key): /pe.ris.paz.mós/
• (1^st CE Egyptian) IPA^(key): /pe.ris.pazˈmos/
• (4^th CE Koine) IPA^(key): /pe.ris.pazˈmos/
• (10^th CE Byzantine) IPA^(key): /pe.ris.pazˈmos/
• (15^th CE Constantinopolitan) IPA^(key): /pe.ris.pazˈmos/

Noun

περῐσπᾰσμός • (perĭspăsmós) m (genitive περῐσπᾰσμοῦ); second declension

1. wheeling around, spinning
   • 200 BCE – 118 BCE, Polybius, The Histories 10.23.3
   • 200 BCE – 118 BCE, Polybius, The Histories 12.18.3
2. (chiefly in the plural) distraction, distracting circumstances
   • Metrodorus, Papyrus Herculanensis 831.7
   • 200 BCE – 118 BCE, Polybius, The Histories 3.87.9
   • 110 BCE – 35 BCE, Philodemus, On Music p.98K
   • 46 CE – 120 CE, Plutarch, Moralia 2.831f
   • 200 BCE – 118 BCE, Polybius, The Histories 4.32.5
   • 36 BCE – 30 BCE, Diodorus Siculus, Historical Library 12.38
   • 279 BCE – 206 BCE, Chrysippus of Soli, Collected Works 3.77
   • 300 BCE – 200 BCE, Septuagint, Ecclesiastes 2.23
   • 108 CE, Arrian, Discourses of Epictetus 3.22.71
3. (grammar) circumflex accent
   • late 1st C. BC, Dionysius of Halicarnassus, Περὶ Συνθέσεως Ὀνομάτων in The Critical Essays II (LCL 466, 1985), ch. xi, ¶ 4 (p. 80, ll. 15–16):

     τοῦ τε ‛κτυπεῖτε’ ὁ περισπασμὸς ἠφάνισται· μιᾷ γὰρ αἱ δύο συλλαβαὶ λέγονται τάσει.

     toû te ‛ktupeîte’ ho perispasmòs ēphánistai; miâi gàr hai dúo sullabaì légontai tásei.

     The circumflex accent on κτυπεῖτε has been eliminated, for the two syllables are uttered at the same pitch. ― translation from: Stephen Usher, op. cit. LCL 466 (1985), ch. xi, ¶ 4, p. 81, ll. 15–17

   • 50 CE – 250 CE, Apollonius Dyscolus, On Pronouns 34.24

Inflection

Second declension of ὁ περῐσπᾰσμός; τοῦ περῐσπᾰσμοῦ (Attic)

Case / #	Singular	Dual	Plural
Nominative	ὁ περῐσπᾰσμός ho perĭspăsmós	τὼ περῐσπᾰσμώ tṑ perĭspăsmṓ	οἱ περῐσπᾰσμοί hoi perĭspăsmoí
Genitive	τοῦ περῐσπᾰσμοῦ toû perĭspăsmoû	τοῖν περῐσπᾰσμοῖν toîn perĭspăsmoîn	τῶν περῐσπᾰσμῶν tôn perĭspăsmôn
Dative	τῷ περῐσπᾰσμῷ tôi perĭspăsmôi	τοῖν περῐσπᾰσμοῖν toîn perĭspăsmoîn	τοῖς περῐσπᾰσμοῖς toîs perĭspăsmoîs
Accusative	τὸν περῐσπᾰσμόν tòn perĭspăsmón	τὼ περῐσπᾰσμώ tṑ perĭspăsmṓ	τοὺς περῐσπᾰσμούς toùs perĭspăsmoús
Vocative	περῐσπᾰσμέ perĭspăsmé	περῐσπᾰσμώ perĭspăsmṓ	περῐσπᾰσμοί perĭspăsmoí
Notes:	This table gives Attic inflectional endings. For declension in other dialects, see Appendix:Ancient Greek dialectal declension.

Synonyms

• (distraction, distracting circumstances): περίσπᾰσις (períspăsis)
• (circumflex accent): περίσπᾰσις (períspăsis)

Descendants

• Latin: perispasmus
  • English: perispasm

Further reading

• “περισπασμός”, in Liddell & Scott (1940) A Greek–English Lexicon, Oxford: Clarendon Press
• “περισπασμός”, in Liddell & Scott (1889) An Intermediate Greek–English Lexicon, New York: Harper & Brothers
• περισπασμός in Bailly, Anatole (1935) Le Grand Bailly: Dictionnaire grec-français, Paris: Hachette