ἀκροβυστία

Ancient Greek

Etymology

The first element is ἄκρος (ákros, “topmost, outermost”). The second element is uncertain. Was traditionally thought to be βύω (búō, “to stuff, plug”), but this is almost certainly incorrect. The word could be an alternative form of ἀκροποσθία (akroposthía, “foreskin”), making the second element akin to πόσθη (pósthē, “penis, foreskin”). Could also be from a Semitic root, such as Hebrew בֹּשֶׁת (bōšeṯ, “shame”).

Pronunciation

 

• IPA^(key): /a.kro.bys.tí.aː/ → /a.kro.βysˈti.a/ → /a.kro.visˈti.a/

• (5^th BCE Attic) IPA^(key): /a.kro.bys.tí.aː/
• (1^st CE Egyptian) IPA^(key): /a.kro.bysˈti.a/
• (4^th CE Koine) IPA^(key): /a.kro.βysˈti.a/
• (10^th CE Byzantine) IPA^(key): /a.kro.vysˈti.a/
• (15^th CE Constantinopolitan) IPA^(key): /a.kro.visˈti.a/

Noun

ἀκροβυστίᾱ • (akrobustíā) f (genitive ἀκροβυστίᾱς); first declension

1. foreskin
   • 300 BCE – 200 BCE, Septuagint, Genesis 17.11
   • 280 BCE – 220 BCE, Philo of Byzantium, Fragments 49
   • New Testament, Acts of the Apostles 11:3
2. the state of having the foreskin, uncircumcision
   • New Testament, Epistle to the Romans 2:25
   1. (collectively) those who are not circumcised, the uncircumcised
      • New Testament, Epistle to the Romans 2:26
      • New Testament, Epistle to the Romans 3:30

Inflection

First declension of ἡ ἀκροβυστῐ́ᾱ; τῆς ἀκροβυστῐ́ᾱς (Attic)

Case / #	Singular	Dual	Plural
Nominative	ἡ ἀκροβυστῐ́ᾱ hē akrobustíā	τὼ ἀκροβυστῐ́ᾱ tṑ akrobustíā	αἱ ἀκροβυστῐ́αι hai akrobustíai
Genitive	τῆς ἀκροβυστῐ́ᾱς tês akrobustíās	τοῖν ἀκροβυστῐ́αιν toîn akrobustíain	τῶν ἀκροβυστῐῶν tôn akrobustiôn
Dative	τῇ ἀκροβυστῐ́ᾳ têi akrobustíāi	τοῖν ἀκροβυστῐ́αιν toîn akrobustíain	ταῖς ἀκροβυστῐ́αις taîs akrobustíais
Accusative	τὴν ἀκροβυστῐ́ᾱν tḕn akrobustíān	τὼ ἀκροβυστῐ́ᾱ tṑ akrobustíā	τᾱ̀ς ἀκροβυστῐ́ᾱς tā̀s akrobustíās
Vocative	ἀκροβυστῐ́ᾱ akrobustíā	ἀκροβυστῐ́ᾱ akrobustíā	ἀκροβυστῐ́αι akrobustíai
Notes:	This table gives Attic inflectional endings. For declension in other dialects, see Appendix:Ancient Greek dialectal declension.

Descendants

• Greek: ακροβυστία f (akrovystía, “foreskin”)

Further reading

• “ἀκροβυστία”, in Liddell & Scott (1940) A Greek–English Lexicon, Oxford: Clarendon Press
• “ἀκροβυστία”, in Liddell & Scott (1889) An Intermediate Greek–English Lexicon, New York: Harper & Brothers
• ἀκροβυστία in Bailly, Anatole (1935) Le Grand Bailly: Dictionnaire grec-français, Paris: Hachette
• ἀκροβυστία in the Diccionario Griego–Español en línea (2006–2024)
• G203 in Strong, James (1979) Strong’s Exhaustive Concordance to the Bible