ψαλίς

Ancient Greek

Etymology

Uncertain but perhaps related to ψάλιον (psálion, “curb chain”) and ψέλιον (psélion, “armlet”). Maybe from Pre-Greek.

Pronunciation

 

• IPA^(key): /psa.lís/ → /psaˈlis/ → /psaˈlis/

• (5^th BCE Attic) IPA^(key): /psa.lís/
• (1^st CE Egyptian) IPA^(key): /psaˈlis/
• (4^th CE Koine) IPA^(key): /psaˈlis/
• (10^th CE Byzantine) IPA^(key): /psaˈlis/
• (15^th CE Constantinopolitan) IPA^(key): /psaˈlis/

Noun

ψᾰλίς • (psalís) f (genitive ψᾰλίδος); third declension

1. scissors, shears
2. sewer, drain
3. (architecture) vault, crypt, barrel vault
4. rounded moulding between the capital and the column
5. (in the plural) rings for the staves of the altar of incense

Declension

Third declension of ἡ ψᾰλῐ́ς; τῆς ψᾰλῐ́δος (Attic)

Case / #	Singular	Dual	Plural
Nominative	ἡ ψᾰλῐ́ς hē psalís	τὼ ψᾰλῐ́δε tṑ psalíde	αἱ ψᾰλῐ́δες hai psalídes
Genitive	τῆς ψᾰλῐ́δος tês psalídos	τοῖν ψᾰλῐ́δοιν toîn psalídoin	τῶν ψᾰλῐ́δων tôn psalídōn
Dative	τῇ ψᾰλῐ́δῐ têi psalídi	τοῖν ψᾰλῐ́δοιν toîn psalídoin	ταῖς ψᾰλῐ́σῐ / ψᾰλῐ́σῐν taîs psalísi(n)
Accusative	τὴν ψᾰλῐ́δᾰ tḕn psalída	τὼ ψᾰλῐ́δε tṑ psalíde	τᾱ̀ς ψᾰλῐ́δᾰς tā̀s psalídas
Vocative	ψᾰλῐ́ς psalís	ψᾰλῐ́δε psalíde	ψᾰλῐ́δες psalídes
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 *-ds.

Derived terms

• ψαλίδιον (psalídion)
• ψαλιδοειδής (psalidoeidḗs)
• ψαλιδόστομος (psalidóstomos)
• ψαλιδόω (psalidóō)
• ψαλίδωμα (psalídōma)
• ψαλιδωτός (psalidōtós)
• ψαλίζω (psalízō)
• ψαλισμός (psalismós)
• ψαλιστέον (psalistéon)
• ψαλιστός (psalistós)

 

Descendants

• Greek: ψαλίδι (psalídi) (through Koine and diminutive ψαλίδιον)

Further reading

• “ψαλίς”, in Liddell & Scott (1940) A Greek–English Lexicon, Oxford: Clarendon Press
• ψαλίς 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