ἀμαλός

Ancient Greek

Etymology

Uncertain. Mostly connected with ἀμαλδύνω (amaldúnō, “to weaken”), but this is just a guess. One further connects ἀμβλύς (amblús, “blunt, dulled; dim”), but this, too, is doubtful. Furnée connects it with ἁπαλός (hapalós, “soft, tender”), with the Pre-Greek interchange labial μ/π; this is possible, but remains uncertain.

Pronunciation

(5^th BCE Attic) IPA^(key): /a.ma.lós/
(1^st CE Egyptian) IPA^(key): /a.maˈlos/
(4^th CE Koine) IPA^(key): /a.maˈlos/
(10^th CE Byzantine) IPA^(key): /a.maˈlos/
(15^th CE Constantinopolitan) IPA^(key): /a.maˈlos/

Adjective

ἀμᾰλός • (amalós) m (feminine ἀμᾰλή, neuter ἀμᾰλόν); first/second declension

(of young animals) soft, tender, weak

Inflection

First and second declension of ἀμᾰλός; ἀμᾰλή; ἀμᾰλόν (Attic)

Number	Singular			Dual			Plural
Case/Gender	Masculine	Feminine	Neuter	Masculine	Feminine	Neuter	Masculine	Feminine	Neuter
Nominative	ἀμᾰλός amalós	ἀμᾰλή amalḗ	ἀμᾰλόν amalón	ἀμᾰλώ amalṓ	ἀμᾰλᾱ́ amalā́	ἀμᾰλώ amalṓ	ἀμᾰλοί amaloí	ἀμᾰλαί amalaí	ἀμᾰλᾰ́ amalá
Genitive	ἀμᾰλοῦ amaloû	ἀμᾰλῆς amalês	ἀμᾰλοῦ amaloû	ἀμᾰλοῖν amaloîn	ἀμᾰλαῖν amalaîn	ἀμᾰλοῖν amaloîn	ἀμᾰλῶν amalôn	ἀμᾰλῶν amalôn	ἀμᾰλῶν amalôn
Dative	ἀμᾰλῷ amalôi	ἀμᾰλῇ amalêi	ἀμᾰλῷ amalôi	ἀμᾰλοῖν amaloîn	ἀμᾰλαῖν amalaîn	ἀμᾰλοῖν amaloîn	ἀμᾰλοῖς amaloîs	ἀμᾰλαῖς amalaîs	ἀμᾰλοῖς amaloîs
Accusative	ἀμᾰλόν amalón	ἀμᾰλήν amalḗn	ἀμᾰλόν amalón	ἀμᾰλώ amalṓ	ἀμᾰλᾱ́ amalā́	ἀμᾰλώ amalṓ	ἀμᾰλούς amaloús	ἀμᾰλᾱ́ς amalā́s	ἀμᾰλᾰ́ amalá
Vocative	ἀμᾰλέ amalé	ἀμᾰλή amalḗ	ἀμᾰλόν amalón	ἀμᾰλώ amalṓ	ἀμᾰλᾱ́ amalā́	ἀμᾰλώ amalṓ	ἀμᾰλοί amaloí	ἀμᾰλαί amalaí	ἀμᾰλᾰ́ amalá
Derived forms	Adverb			Comparative			Superlative
Derived forms	ἀμᾰλῶς amalôs			ἀμᾰλώτερος amalṓteros			ἀμᾰλώτᾰτος amalṓtatos
Notes:	This table gives Attic inflectional endings. For declension in other dialects, see Appendix:Ancient Greek dialectal declension.

References

“ἀμαλός”, in Liddell & Scott (1940) A Greek–English Lexicon, Oxford: Clarendon Press
“ἀμαλός”, in Liddell & Scott (1889) An Intermediate Greek–English Lexicon, New York: Harper & Brothers
“ἀμαλός”, in Autenrieth, Georg (1891) A Homeric Dictionary for Schools and Colleges, New York: Harper and Brothers
ἀμαλός in Bailly, Anatole (1935) Le Grand Bailly: Dictionnaire grec-français, Paris: Hachette
ἀμαλός in Cunliffe, Richard J. (1924) A Lexicon of the Homeric Dialect: Expanded Edition, Norman: University of Oklahoma Press, published 1963
ἀμαλός in the Diccionario Griego–Español en línea (2006–2024)
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