ἰξός

Ancient Greek

Etymology

An old cultural word, identical with Latin viscum (“mistletoe”), thus implying a pre-form *ϝιξ(ο-) (*wix(o-)). It has been compared with Proto-Slavic *višьňa (“sour cherry”) and Proto-Germanic *wīhsilō (“sour cherry”). Chantraine considers a common derivation from Proto-Indo-European *weyḱs-,^[1] but, according to Beekes, given its structure and limited distribution it is likely a loanword from a European substrate.^[2]

Pronunciation

(5^th BCE Attic) IPA^(key): /ik.sós/
(1^st CE Egyptian) IPA^(key): /ikˈsos/
(4^th CE Koine) IPA^(key): /ikˈsos/
(10^th CE Byzantine) IPA^(key): /ikˈsos/
(15^th CE Constantinopolitan) IPA^(key): /ikˈsos/

Noun

ἰξός • (ixós) m (genitive ἰξοῦ); second declension

European mistletoe (Viscum album)
Synonym: ὕφεαρ (húphear)
mistletoe berry
birdlime prepared from the mistletoe berry
oak gum, used for the same purpose
(in general) any sticky substance
(figuratively) skinflint, miser

Inflection

Second declension of ὁ ἰξός; τοῦ ἰξοῦ (Attic)

Case / #	Singular	Dual	Plural
Nominative	ὁ ἰξός ho ixós	τὼ ἰξώ tṑ ixṓ	οἱ ἰξοί hoi ixoí
Genitive	τοῦ ἰξοῦ toû ixoû	τοῖν ἰξοῖν toîn ixoîn	τῶν ἰξῶν tôn ixôn
Dative	τῷ ἰξῷ tôi ixôi	τοῖν ἰξοῖν toîn ixoîn	τοῖς ἰξοῖς toîs ixoîs
Accusative	τὸν ἰξόν tòn ixón	τὼ ἰξώ tṑ ixṓ	τοὺς ἰξούς toùs ixoús
Vocative	ἰξέ ixé	ἰξώ ixṓ	ἰξοί ixoí
Notes:	This table gives Attic inflectional endings. For declension in other dialects, see Appendix:Ancient Greek dialectal declension.

Derived terms

ἰξεύω (ixeúō)
ἰξία (ixía)
ἰξῐ́ᾱς (ixĭ́ās)
ἰξῑ́νη (ixī́nē)
ἰξίον (ixíon)
ἰξοβόλος (ixobólos)
ἰξοβόρος (ixobóros)
ἰξοειδές (ixoeidés)
ἰξοεργός (ixoergós)
ἰξόομαι (ixóomai)
ἰξοποιέω (ixopoiéō)
ἰξοφάγος (ixophágos)
ἰξοφόρος (ixophóros)
ἰξώδης (ixṓdēs)

Descendants

Greek: ιξός (ixós)
→ Ottoman Turkish: اوكسه (ökse)
- Turkish: ökse
- → Armenian: էօքսէ (ēōkʻsē)
- → Azerbaijani: öksə

References

^ Chantraine, Pierre (1968–1980) “ἰξός”, in Dictionnaire étymologique de la langue grecque (in French), Paris: Klincksieck, page 465
^ Beekes, Robert S. P. (2010) “ἰξός”, in Etymological Dictionary of Greek (Leiden Indo-European Etymological Dictionary Series; 10), with the assistance of Lucien van Beek, Leiden, Boston: Brill, →ISBN, pages 593–594