ἕλμινς

Ancient Greek

Alternative forms

ἕλμις (hélmis)

Etymology

Uncertain. The original nominative was probably ἕλμις (hélmis), with ἕλμινς being a back-formation from the oblique forms. There appear to be two related Indo-European roots: *kʷr̥mis, with descendants such as Sanskrit कृमि (kṛmi) and Proto-Slavic *čьrvь; and *wr̥mis, with descendants such as Latin vermis and Old English wyrm (English worm). However, since ἕλμινς has a λ instead of a ρ, and also because of the sequence -νθ-, Beekes argues for a Pre-Greek origin.

Pronunciation

(5^th BCE Attic) IPA^(key): /hél.mins/
(1^st CE Egyptian) IPA^(key): /ˈ(h)el.mins/
(4^th CE Koine) IPA^(key): /ˈel.mins/
(10^th CE Byzantine) IPA^(key): /ˈel.mins/
(15^th CE Constantinopolitan) IPA^(key): /ˈel.mins/

Noun

ἕλμινς • (hélmins) f (genitive ἕλμινθος); third declension

parasitic worm

Inflection

Third declension of ἡ ἕλμῐνς; τῆς ἕλμῐνθος (Attic)

Case / #	Singular	Dual	Plural
Nominative	ἡ ἕλμῐνς hē hélmins	τὼ ἕλμῐνθε tṑ hélminthe	αἱ ἕλμῐνθες hai hélminthes
Genitive	τῆς ἕλμῐνθος tês hélminthos	τοῖν ἑλμῐ́νθοιν toîn helmínthoin	τῶν ἑλμῐ́νθων tôn helmínthōn
Dative	τῇ ἕλμῐνθῐ têi hélminthi	τοῖν ἑλμῐ́νθοιν toîn helmínthoin	ταῖς ἕλμῐνσῐ / ἕλμῐνσῐν taîs hélminsi(n)
Accusative	τὴν ἕλμῐνθᾰ tḕn hélmintha	τὼ ἕλμῐνθε tṑ hélminthe	τᾱ̀ς ἕλμῐνθᾰς tā̀s hélminthas
Vocative	ἕλμιν hélmin	ἕλμῐνθε hélminthe	ἕλμῐνθες hélminthes
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 *-tʰs.

Derived terms

ἑλμῐνθοβότᾰνον (helminthobótanon)

Descendants

→ English: helminth
→ Irish: heilmint
→ Russian: гельми́нт (gelʹmínt)