τέλμα

Ancient Greek

Etymology

The origin remains unexplained. Has been compared to Old Armenian տիղմ (tiłm).

Pronunciation

 

• IPA^(key): /tél.ma/ → /ˈtel.ma/ → /ˈtel.ma/

• (5^th BCE Attic) IPA^(key): /tél.ma/
• (1^st CE Egyptian) IPA^(key): /ˈtel.ma/
• (4^th CE Koine) IPA^(key): /ˈtel.ma/
• (10^th CE Byzantine) IPA^(key): /ˈtel.ma/
• (15^th CE Constantinopolitan) IPA^(key): /ˈtel.ma/

Noun

τέλμᾰ • (télma) n (genitive τέλμᾰτος); third declension

1. standing water, pond, marsh, swamp
2. (in the plural) lowlands subject to inundation, water meadows
3. mud used as a mortar
4. space pointed with mortar, between the courses of masonry

Inflection

Third declension of τὸ τέλμᾰ; τοῦ τέλμᾰτος (Attic)

Case / #	Singular	Dual	Plural
Nominative	τὸ τέλμᾰ tò télma	τὼ τέλμᾰτε tṑ télmate	τᾰ̀ τέλμᾰτᾰ tà télmata
Genitive	τοῦ τέλμᾰτος toû télmatos	τοῖν τελμᾰ́τοιν toîn telmátoin	τῶν τελμᾰ́των tôn telmátōn
Dative	τῷ τέλμᾰτῐ tôi télmati	τοῖν τελμᾰ́τοιν toîn telmátoin	τοῖς τέλμᾰσῐ / τέλμᾰσῐν toîs télmasi(n)
Accusative	τὸ τέλμᾰ tò télma	τὼ τέλμᾰτε tṑ télmate	τᾰ̀ τέλμᾰτᾰ tà télmata
Vocative	τέλμᾰ télma	τέλμᾰτε télmate	τέλμᾰτᾰ télmata
Notes:	This table gives Attic inflectional endings. For declension in other dialects, see Appendix:Ancient Greek dialectal declension.

Derived terms

• τελμᾰτῐαῖος (telmatiaîos)
• τελμᾰτόομαι (telmatóomai)
• τελμᾰτώδης (telmatṓdēs)
• τελμῐ́ς (telmís)

 

Further reading

• “τέλμα”, in Liddell & Scott (1940) A Greek–English Lexicon, Oxford: Clarendon Press
• τέλμα in Bailly, Anatole (1935) Le Grand Bailly: Dictionnaire grec-français, Paris: Hachette
• 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

Greek

Noun

τέλμα • (télma) n (plural τέλματα)

1. swamp, quagmire, bog
2. (figuratively) impasse, predicament

Declension

Declension of τέλμα

	singular	plural
nominative	τέλμα (télma)	τέλματα (télmata)
genitive	τέλματος (télmatos)	τελμάτων (telmáton)
accusative	τέλμα (télma)	τέλματα (télmata)
vocative	τέλμα (télma)	τέλματα (télmata)

Synonyms

• έλος n (élos)
• βάλτος m (váltos)