ἀπόφθεγμα

Ancient Greek

Etymology

From ἀποφθέγγομαι (apophthéngomai, “I plainly speak my mind”), from ἀπο- (apo-, “away”) +‎ φθέγγομαι (phthéngomai, “to speak loudly”), +‎ -μα (-ma, result noun suffix).

Pronunciation

 

• IPA^(key): /a.pópʰ.tʰeŋ.ma/ → /aˈpoɸ.θeɣ.ma/ → /aˈpof.θeɣ.ma/

• (5^th BCE Attic) IPA^(key): /a.pópʰ.tʰeŋ.ma/
• (1^st CE Egyptian) IPA^(key): /aˈpopʰ.tʰeɡ.ma/
• (4^th CE Koine) IPA^(key): /aˈpoɸ.θeɣ.ma/
• (10^th CE Byzantine) IPA^(key): /aˈpof.θeɣ.ma/
• (15^th CE Constantinopolitan) IPA^(key): /aˈpof.θeɣ.ma/

Noun

ἀπόφθεγμα • (apóphthegma) n (genitive ἀποφθέγματος); third declension

1. a thing uttered
2. especially a terse, pointed saying, an apophthegm

Inflection

Third declension of τὸ ἀπόφθεγμᾰ; τοῦ ἀποφθέγμᾰτος (Attic)

Case / #	Singular	Dual	Plural
Nominative	τὸ ἀπόφθεγμᾰ tò apóphthegmă	τὼ ἀποφθέγμᾰτε tṑ apophthégmăte	τᾰ̀ ἀποφθέγμᾰτᾰ tằ apophthégmătă
Genitive	τοῦ ἀποφθέγμᾰτος toû apophthégmătos	τοῖν ἀποφθεγμᾰ́τοιν toîn apophthegmắtoin	τῶν ἀποφθεγμᾰ́των tôn apophthegmắtōn
Dative	τῷ ἀποφθέγμᾰτῐ tôi apophthégmătĭ	τοῖν ἀποφθεγμᾰ́τοιν toîn apophthegmắtoin	τοῖς ἀποφθέγμᾰσῐ / ἀποφθέγμᾰσῐν toîs apophthégmăsĭ(n)
Accusative	τὸ ἀπόφθεγμᾰ tò apóphthegmă	τὼ ἀποφθέγμᾰτε tṑ apophthégmăte	τᾰ̀ ἀποφθέγμᾰτᾰ tằ apophthégmătă
Vocative	ἀπόφθεγμᾰ apóphthegmă	ἀποφθέγμᾰτε apophthégmăte	ἀποφθέγμᾰτᾰ apophthégmătă
Notes:	This table gives Attic inflectional endings. For declension in other dialects, see Appendix:Ancient Greek dialectal declension.

Descendants

• → Catalan: apotegma
• → English: apothegm
• → French: apophtegme
• → German: Apophthegma
• Greek: απόφθεγμα (apófthegma)
• → Ido: apotemo
• → Polish: apoftegmat
• → Portuguese: apotegma
• → Spanish: apotegma
• → Ukrainian: апофтегма (apoftehma)

References

• “ἀπόφθεγμα”, in Liddell & Scott (1940) A Greek–English Lexicon, Oxford: Clarendon Press
• “ἀπόφθεγμα”, in Liddell & Scott (1889) An Intermediate Greek–English Lexicon, New York: Harper & Brothers
• ἀπόφθεγμα in Bailly, Anatole (1935) Le Grand Bailly: Dictionnaire grec-français, Paris: Hachette
• Bauer, Walter et al. (2001) A Greek–English Lexicon of the New Testament and Other Early Christian Literature, Third edition, Chicago: University of Chicago Press
• ἀπόφθεγμα in the Diccionario Griego–Español en línea (2006–2025)