σέλας

Ancient Greek

Etymology

Uncertain. Possibly from Pre-Greek with other derivative σελήνη (selḗnē).

Pronunciation

 

• IPA^(key): /sé.las/ → /ˈse.las/ → /ˈse.las/

• (5^th BCE Attic) IPA^(key): /sé.las/
• (1^st CE Egyptian) IPA^(key): /ˈse.las/
• (4^th CE Koine) IPA^(key): /ˈse.las/
• (10^th CE Byzantine) IPA^(key): /ˈse.las/
• (15^th CE Constantinopolitan) IPA^(key): /ˈse.las/

Noun

σέλᾰς • (sélăs) n (genitive σέλᾰος); third declension

1. light, brightness, the bright flame or blaze of fire
   • 800 BCE – 600 BCE, Homer, Iliad 19.366
   • 800 BCE – 600 BCE, Homer, Iliad 19.375
   • 800 BCE – 600 BCE, Homer, Iliad 8.563
   • 800 BCE – 600 BCE, Homer, Iliad 17.739
   • 800 BCE – 600 BCE, Homer, Odyssey 18.353
   • 750 BCE – 650 BCE, Hesiod, The Shield of Heracles 275
   • 522 BCE – 443 BCE, Pindar, Pythian Ode 3.69
   • 458 BCE, Aeschylus, Agamemnon 281
2. shine

Inflection

Third declension of τὸ σέλᾰς; τοῦ σέλᾰος (contracted, Attic)

Case / #	Singular	Dual	Plural
Nominative	τὸ σέλᾰς tò sélăs	τὼ σέλᾰε tṑ sélăe	τᾰ̀ σέλᾰᾰ tằ sélăă
Genitive	τοῦ σέλᾰος toû sélăos	τοῖν σελᾰ́οιν toîn selắoin	τῶν σελᾰ́ων tôn selắōn
Dative	τῷ σέλᾰῐ̈ tôi sélăĭ̈	τοῖν σελᾰ́οιν toîn selắoin	τοῖς σέλᾰσῐ / σέλᾰσῐν toîs sélăsĭ(n)
Accusative	τὸ σέλᾰς tò sélăs	τὼ σέλᾰε tṑ sélăe	τᾰ̀ σέλᾰᾰ tằ sélăă
Vocative	σέλᾰς sélăs	σέλᾰε sélăe	σέλᾰᾰ sélăă
Notes:	This table gives Attic inflectional endings. For declension in other dialects, see Appendix:Ancient Greek dialectal declension.

Third declension of τὸ σέλᾰς; τοῦ σέλως (contracted, Attic)

Case / #	Singular	Dual	Plural
Nominative	τὸ σέλᾰς tò sélăs	τὼ σέλᾱ tṑ sélā	τᾰ̀ σέλᾱ tằ sélā
Genitive	τοῦ σέλως toû sélōs	τοῖν σελῷν toîn selôin	τῶν σελῶν tôn selôn
Dative	τῷ σέλαι / σέλᾳ tôi sélai / sélāi	τοῖν σελῷν toîn selôin	τοῖς σέλᾰσῐ / σέλᾰσῐν toîs sélăsĭ(n)
Accusative	τὸ σέλᾰς tò sélăs	τὼ σέλᾱ tṑ sélā	τᾰ̀ σέλᾱ tằ sélā
Vocative	σέλᾰς sélăs	σέλᾱ sélā	σέλᾱ sélā
Notes:	This table gives Attic inflectional endings. For declension in other dialects, see Appendix:Ancient Greek dialectal declension.

Third declension of τὸ σέλᾰς; τοῦ σέλᾰτος (Attic)

Case / #	Singular	Dual	Plural
Nominative	τὸ σέλᾰς tò sélăs	τὼ σέλᾰτε tṑ sélăte	τᾰ̀ σέλᾰτᾰ tằ sélătă
Genitive	τοῦ σέλᾰτος toû sélătos	τοῖν σελᾰ́τοιν toîn selắtoin	τῶν σελᾰ́των tôn selắtōn
Dative	τῷ σέλᾰτῐ tôi sélătĭ	τοῖν σελᾰ́τοιν toîn selắtoin	τοῖς σέλᾰσῐ / σέλᾰσῐν toîs sélăsĭ(n)
Accusative	τὸ σέλᾰς tò sélăs	τὼ σέλᾰτε tṑ sélăte	τᾰ̀ σέλᾰτᾰ tằ sélătă
Vocative	σέλᾰς sélăs	σέλᾰτε sélăte	σέλᾰτᾰ sélătă
Notes:	This table gives Attic inflectional endings. For declension in other dialects, see Appendix:Ancient Greek dialectal declension. Nominative singular -ς (-s) arose by reduction of the original cluster *-ts.

References

• “σέλας”, in Liddell & Scott (1940) A Greek–English Lexicon, Oxford: Clarendon Press
• σέλας in Bailly, Anatole (1935) Le Grand Bailly: Dictionnaire grec-français, Paris: Hachette
• σέλας in Cunliffe, Richard J. (1924) A Lexicon of the Homeric Dialect: Expanded Edition, Norman: University of Oklahoma Press, published 1963
• Woodhouse, S. C. (1910) English–Greek Dictionary: A Vocabulary of the Attic Language‎^[1], London: Routledge & Kegan Paul Limited.
  • beam idem, page 66.
  • blaze idem, page 82.
  • brightness idem, page 98.
  • coruscation idem, page 176.
  • flame idem, page 325.
  • flash idem, page 326.
  • glare idem, page 361.
  • gleam idem, page 361.
  • glimmer idem, page 362.
  • glitter idem, page 362.
  • light idem, page 490.
  • lustre idem, page 505.
  • resplendence idem, page 704.
  • sunbeam idem, page 838.

Greek

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /ˈse.las/
• Hyphenation: σέ‧λας

Etymology 1

Ancient Greek σέλας (sélas).

Noun

σέλας • (sélas) n (plural σέλατα) or σέλαα (sélaa): see the ancient declension of σέλας (sélas)

1. lights, aurora

   βόρειο σέλας ― vóreio sélas ― northern lights, aurora borealis

   νότιο σέλας ― nótio sélas ― southern lights, aurora australis

2. shine

Declension

Declension of σέλας

	singular	plural
nominative	σέλας (sélas)	σέλατα (sélata)
genitive	σέλατος (sélatos)	σελάτων (seláton)
accusative	σέλας (sélas)	σέλατα (sélata)
vocative	σέλας (sélas)	σέλατα (sélata)

Inflectional forms as in the ancient σέλας (sélas).
Also, genitive singular σέλαος (sélaos) and a plural form σέλαα (sélaa).
The plural forms are rare.

Etymology 2

Noun

σέλας • (sélas) f

1. genitive singular of σέλα (séla)

Further reading

• σέλας, in Λεξικό της κοινής νεοελληνικής [Dictionary of Standard Modern Greek], Triantafyllidis Foundation, 1998 at the Centre for the Greek language