σφῦρα

Ancient Greek

Etymology

Julius Pokorny connects this word with σπαίρω (spaírō, “to hammer, to make rapid movements”). Frisk connects this word with σφαῖρα (sphaîra, “ball”), but this seems far-fetched, especially since the semantic connection is not evident. The etymology thus remains uncertain.

Pronunciation

 

• IPA^(key): /spʰŷː.ra/ → /ˈsɸy.ra/ → /ˈsfi.ra/

• (5^th BCE Attic) IPA^(key): /spʰŷː.ra/
• (1^st CE Egyptian) IPA^(key): /ˈspʰy.ra/
• (4^th CE Koine) IPA^(key): /ˈsɸy.ra/
• (10^th CE Byzantine) IPA^(key): /ˈsfy.ra/
• (15^th CE Constantinopolitan) IPA^(key): /ˈsfi.ra/

Noun

σφῦρᾰ • (sphûra) f (genitive σφῡ́ρᾱς); first declension

1. hammer, beetle, mallet

   Synonym: κέστρα (késtra)

2. balk between the furrows of ploughed land
3. kind of land measure

Inflection

First declension of ἡ σφῦρᾰ; τῆς σφῡ́ρᾱς (Attic)

Case / #	Singular	Dual	Plural
Nominative	ἡ σφῦρᾰ hē sphûra	τὼ σφῡ́ρᾱ tṑ sphū́rā	αἱ σφῦραι hai sphûrai
Genitive	τῆς σφῡ́ρᾱς tês sphū́rās	τοῖν σφῡ́ραιν toîn sphū́rain	τῶν σφῡρῶν tôn sphūrôn
Dative	τῇ σφῡ́ρᾳ têi sphū́rāi	τοῖν σφῡ́ραιν toîn sphū́rain	ταῖς σφῡ́ραις taîs sphū́rais
Accusative	τὴν σφῦρᾰν tḕn sphûran	τὼ σφῡ́ρᾱ tṑ sphū́rā	τᾱ̀ς σφῡ́ρᾱς tā̀s sphū́rās
Vocative	σφῦρᾰ sphûra	σφῡ́ρᾱ sphū́rā	σφῦραι sphûrai
Notes:	This table gives Attic inflectional endings. For declension in other dialects, see Appendix:Ancient Greek dialectal declension.

Derived terms

• σφῡ́ραινᾰ (sphū́raina)
• σφῡρηδόν (sphūrēdón)
• σφῡρηλᾰτέω (sphūrēlatéō)
• σφῡρήλατος (sphūrḗlatos)
• σφῡρῐ́ον (sphūríon)
• σφῡρόβολος (sphūróbolos)
• σφῡρόκοπος (sphūrókopos)
• σφῡροκτῠπέω (sphūroktupéō)
• σφῡροπέλεκῠς (sphūropélekus)
• σφῡ́ρωσῐς (sphū́rōsis)

 

Descendants

• Greek: σφυρί (sfyrí)
• Mariupol Greek: сфири́ (sfirí)

Further reading

• “σφῦρα”, in Liddell & Scott (1940) A Greek–English Lexicon, Oxford: Clarendon Press
• “σφῦρα”, in Liddell & Scott (1889) An Intermediate Greek–English Lexicon, New York: Harper & Brothers
• “σφῦρα”, in Autenrieth, Georg (1891) A Homeric Dictionary for Schools and Colleges, New York: Harper and Brothers
• σφῦρα in Bailly, Anatole (1935) Le Grand Bailly: Dictionnaire grec-français, Paris: Hachette
• σφῦρα in Cunliffe, Richard J. (1924) A Lexicon of the Homeric Dialect: Expanded Edition, Norman: University of Oklahoma Press, published 1963
• Beekes, Robert S. P. (2010) Etymological Dictionary of Greek (Leiden Indo-European Etymological Dictionary Series; 10), with the assistance of Lucien van Beek, Leiden, Boston: Brill, →ISBN