τόπαζος

Ancient Greek

Alternative forms

τόπᾰζον (tópazon)

Etymology

A loanword which, according to Pliny, was taken from the language of the Troglodytes, and named after an island of the same name in the Red Sea. However, according to Furnée, the existence of the gloss ταβάσιος (tabásios, “kind of stone”) proves a Pre-Greek origin of the word. Also compare Sanskrit तपस् (tapas, “fire, heat”).^[1]

Pronunciation

(5^th BCE Attic) IPA^(key): /tó.paz.dos/
(1^st CE Egyptian) IPA^(key): /ˈto.pa.zos/
(4^th CE Koine) IPA^(key): /ˈto.pa.zos/
(10^th CE Byzantine) IPA^(key): /ˈto.pa.zos/
(15^th CE Constantinopolitan) IPA^(key): /ˈto.pa.zos/

Noun

τόπᾰζος • (tópazos) m (genitive τοπᾰ́ζου); second declension

gem of green hue, probably chrysolite or peridot

Inflection

Second declension of ὁ τόπᾰζος; τοῦ τοπᾰ́ζου (Attic)

Case / #	Singular	Dual	Plural
Nominative	ὁ τόπᾰζος ho tópazos	τὼ τοπᾰ́ζω tṑ topázō	οἱ τόπᾰζοι hoi tópazoi
Genitive	τοῦ τοπᾰ́ζου toû topázou	τοῖν τοπᾰ́ζοιν toîn topázoin	τῶν τοπᾰ́ζων tôn topázōn
Dative	τῷ τοπᾰ́ζῳ tôi topázōi	τοῖν τοπᾰ́ζοιν toîn topázoin	τοῖς τοπᾰ́ζοις toîs topázois
Accusative	τὸν τόπᾰζον tòn tópazon	τὼ τοπᾰ́ζω tṑ topázō	τοὺς τοπᾰ́ζους toùs topázous
Vocative	τόπᾰζε tópaze	τοπᾰ́ζω topázō	τόπᾰζοι tópazoi
Notes:	This table gives Attic inflectional endings. For declension in other dialects, see Appendix:Ancient Greek dialectal declension.

Derived terms

τοπᾰ́ζῐον (topázion)

Descendants

→ Latin: topazius (see there for further descendants)
→ Macedonian: топаз (topaz)
→ Russian: топа́з (topáz)
- → Kazakh: топаз (topaz)
→ Serbo-Croatian: topaz

References

^ Douglas Harper (2001–2024) “topaz”, in Online Etymology Dictionary.