ἄχνη

Ancient Greek

Alternative forms

ἄχνα (ákhna) — Doric

Etymology

Has been connected with Latin agna (“ear of grain”) and English awn. According to Beekes, the word must be connected with ἄχυρον (ákhuron, “chaff”), pointing thus to a Pre-Greek origin.

Pronunciation

(5^th BCE Attic) IPA^(key): /á.kʰnɛː/
(1^st CE Egyptian) IPA^(key): /ˈa.kʰne̝/
(4^th CE Koine) IPA^(key): /ˈa.xni/
(10^th CE Byzantine) IPA^(key): /ˈa.xni/
(15^th CE Constantinopolitan) IPA^(key): /ˈa.xni/

Noun

ἄχνη • (ákhnē) f (genitive ἄχνης); first declension

anything that comes off the surface
1. foam, froth of the sea or of the river
2. froth of wine
3. exudation
4. dew
5. (medicine) stone in the urine
6. chaff
7. embers that form the smoke
8. metal dust, filing
9. fluff on plants and fruits
10. finespun fabrics
11. flakes, shreds used for lint
12. morsel, the least bit
13. flax-leaved daphne (Daphne gnidium)

Inflection

First declension of ἡ ἄχνη; τῆς ἄχνης (Attic)

Case / #	Singular	Dual	Plural
Nominative	ἡ ἄχνη hē ákhnē	τὼ ἄχνᾱ tṑ ákhnā	αἱ ἄχναι hai ákhnai
Genitive	τῆς ἄχνης tês ákhnēs	τοῖν ἄχναιν toîn ákhnain	τῶν ἀχνῶν tôn akhnôn
Dative	τῇ ἄχνῃ têi ákhnēi	τοῖν ἄχναιν toîn ákhnain	ταῖς ἄχναις taîs ákhnais
Accusative	τὴν ἄχνην tḕn ákhnēn	τὼ ἄχνᾱ tṑ ákhnā	τᾱ̀ς ἄχνᾱς tā̀s ákhnās
Vocative	ἄχνη ákhnē	ἄχνᾱ ákhnā	ἄχναι ákhnai
Notes:	This table gives Attic inflectional endings. For declension in other dialects, see Appendix:Ancient Greek dialectal declension.

Descendants

Translingual: Achnella, Achneria, etc

References

“ἄχνη”, in Liddell & Scott (1940) A Greek–English Lexicon, Oxford: Clarendon Press
ἄχνη in Bailly, Anatole (1935) Le Grand Bailly: Dictionnaire grec-français, Paris: Hachette
ἄχνη in the Diccionario Griego–Español en línea (2006–2025)
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