ἰχθύς

See also: ιχθύς and ΙΧΘΥΣ

Ancient Greek

Alternative forms

• ἰχθῦς (ikhthûs)

Etymology

Perhaps from Proto-Indo-European *dʰǵʰu- (“fish”), but the initial ἰ is unetymological and problematic. Compare Old Armenian ձուկն (jukn) and Lithuanian žuvìs.

Pronunciation

 

• IPA^(key): /ikʰ.tʰy̌ːs/ → /ixˈθys/ → /ixˈθis/

• (5^th BCE Attic) IPA^(key): /ikʰ.tʰy̌ːs/
• (1^st CE Egyptian) IPA^(key): /ikʰˈtʰys/
• (4^th CE Koine) IPA^(key): /ixˈθys/
• (10^th CE Byzantine) IPA^(key): /ixˈθys/
• (15^th CE Constantinopolitan) IPA^(key): /ixˈθis/

Noun

ἰχθῡ́ς • (ikhthū́s) m (genitive ἰχθῠ́ος); third declension

1. fish
   • 800 BCE – 600 BCE, Homer, Iliad 24.82:

     ἔρχεται ὠμηστῇσιν ἐπ’ ἰχθύσι κῆρα φέρουσα

     érkhetai ōmēstêisin ep’ ikhthúsi kêra phérousa

     goeth down bearing death to the ravenous fishes

   1. (figuratively) stupid person
      • 46 CE – 120 CE, Plutarch, Moralia 2.975b:

        ὥσπερ αὖ καὶ τῶν βασιλέων Ἀετὸς μὲν ὁ Πύρρος ἥδετο καλούμενος Ἰέραξ δ' ὁ Ἀντίοχος· ἰχθῦς δὲ τοὺς ἀμαθεῖς καὶ ἀνοήτους λοιδοροῦντες ἢ σκώπτοντες ὀνομάζομεν.

        hṓsper aû kaì tôn basiléōn Aetòs mèn ho Púrrhos hḗdeto kaloúmenos Iérax d’ ho Antíokhos; ikhthûs dè toùs amatheîs kaì anoḗtous loidoroûntes ḕ skṓptontes onomázomen.

        So again, among monarchs Pyrrhus liked to be called an Eagle and Antiochus a Hawk. But when we deride, or rail at, stupid and ignorant people we call them "fish."

   2. (in the plural) fish market
      • 405 BCE, Aristophanes, The Frogs 1068:

        κἂν ταῦτα λέγων ἐξαπατήσῃ, παρὰ τοὺς ἰχθῦς ἀνέκυψεν.

        kàn taûta légōn exapatḗsēi, parà toùs ikhthûs anékupsen.

        And if he fooled 'em with that story, he'd pop up in the fish market.

   3. (in the plural) Pisces (constellation)
      • 190 BCE – 120 BCE, Hipparchus, Collected Works 1.2.3
      • 234 CE – 305 CE, Porphyry, Antr. 22

Inflection

Third declension of ὁ ῐ̓χθῡ́ς; τοῦ ῐ̓χθῠ́ος (Attic)

Case / #	Singular	Dual	Plural
Nominative	ὁ ῐ̓χθῡ́ς ho ĭkhthū́s	τὼ ῐ̓χθῠ́ε tṑ ĭkhthŭ́e	οἱ ῐ̓χθῠ́ες hoi ĭkhthŭ́es
Genitive	τοῦ ῐ̓χθῠ́ος toû ĭkhthŭ́os	τοῖν ῐ̓χθῠ́οιν toîn ĭkhthŭ́oin	τῶν ῐ̓χθῠ́ων tôn ĭkhthŭ́ōn
Dative	τῷ ῐ̓χθῠ́ῐ̈ tôi ĭkhthŭ́ĭ̈	τοῖν ῐ̓χθῠ́οιν toîn ĭkhthŭ́oin	τοῖς ῐ̓χθῠ́σῐ / ῐ̓χθῠ́σῐν toîs ĭkhthŭ́sĭ(n)
Accusative	τὸν ἰχθῡ́ν / ἰχθῠ́ᾰ tòn ikhthū́n / ikhthŭ́ă	τὼ ῐ̓χθῠ́ε tṑ ĭkhthŭ́e	τοὺς ῐ̓χθῦς / ῐ̓χθῠ́ᾰς toùs ĭkhthûs / ĭkhthŭ́ăs
Vocative	ῐ̓χθῡ́ ĭkhthū́	ῐ̓χθῠ́ε ĭkhthŭ́e	ῐ̓χθῠ́ες ĭkhthŭ́es
Notes:	This table gives Attic inflectional endings. For declension in other dialects, see Appendix:Ancient Greek dialectal declension.

Derived terms

• ᾰ̓́νιχθῠς (ắnikhthŭs)
• ᾰ̓πιχθυόομαι (ăpikhthuóomai)
• ᾰ̓πιχθῠς (ăpikhthŭs)
• εὔιχθῠς (eúikhthŭs)
• ἰχθῠ́ᾱ (ikhthŭ́ā)
• ἰχθῠᾰγωγός (ikhthŭăgōgós)
• ἰχθῠάζομαι (ikhthŭázomai)
• ἰχθῠᾰκός (ikhthŭăkós)
• ἰχθῠᾰ́ω (ikhthŭắō)
• ἰχθῠ́βολος (ikhthŭ́bolos)
• ἰχθῠβόρος (ikhthŭbóros)
• ἰχθῠ́βοτος (ikhthŭ́botos)
• ἰχθῠγόνος (ikhthŭgónos)
• ἰχθῡ́διον (ikhthū́dion)
• ἰχθῠδόκος (ikhthŭdókos)
• ἰχθῠεῖον (ikhthŭeîon)
• ἰχθῠήμᾰτᾰ (ikhthŭḗmătă)
• ἰχθῠηρός (ikhthŭērós)
• ἰχθῠῐ̈́ᾱ (ikhthŭĭ̈́ā)
• ἰχθῠῐ̈κός (ikhthŭĭ̈kós)
• ἰχθῠ́κεντρον (ikhthŭ́kentron)
• ἰχθῠμέδων (ikhthŭmédōn)
• ἰχθῠνόμος (ikhthŭnómos)
• ἰχθῠόβρωτος (ikhthŭóbrōtos)
• ἰχθῠοειδής (ikhthŭoeidḗs)
• ἰχθῠόεις (ikhthŭóeis)
• ἰχθῠοθήρᾱ (ikhthŭothḗrā)
• ἰχθῠοθήρᾱς (ikhthŭothḗrās)
• ἰχθῠοθηρευτής (ikhthŭothēreutḗs)
• ἰχθῠοθηρητήρ (ikhthŭothērētḗr)
• ἰχθῠοθηρῐ́ᾱ (ikhthŭothērĭ́ā)
• ἰχθῠοκένταυρος (ikhthŭokéntauros)
• ἰχθῠόκολλᾰ (ikhthŭókollă)
• ἰχθῠολογέω (ikhthŭologéō)
• ἰχθῠολῡ́μης (ikhthŭolū́mēs)
• ἰχθῠόμαντῐς (ikhthŭómantĭs)
• ἰχθῠομετᾰ́βολος (ikhthŭometắbolos)
• ἰχθῠοπρᾱ́της (ikhthŭoprā́tēs)
• ἰχθῠοπτρῐ́ς (ikhthŭoptrĭ́s)
• ἰχθῠοπώλης (ikhthŭopṓlēs)
• ἰχθῠόρροος (ikhthŭórrhoos)
• ἰχθῠοτρόφος (ikhthŭotróphos)
• ἰχθῠουλκός (ikhthŭoulkós)
• ἰχθῠόφᾰγος (ikhthŭóphăgos)
• ἰχθῠόφορος (ikhthŭóphoros)
• ἰχθῠπᾰγής (ikhthŭpăgḗs)
• ἰχθῠπόρος (ikhthŭpóros)
• ἰχθῠσιληϊστήρ (ikhthŭsilēïstḗr)
• ἰχθυστεφής (ikhthustephḗs)
• ἰχθῠφόνος (ikhthŭphónos)
• ἰχθῠώδης (ikhthŭṓdēs)
• κάλλιχθῠς (kállikhthŭs)
• πολῠ́ϊχθῠς (polŭ́ïkhthŭs)
• φῐ́λιχθῠς (phĭ́likhthŭs)

Descendants

• Greek: ιχθύς (ichthýs)
• → English: ichthys

Further reading

• ἰχθύς in Wilhelm Pape's Handwörterbuch der griechischen Sprache: Griechisch-deutsches Handwörterbuch. 1875. Vol I, pg. 582/1.
• “ἰχθῦς”, in Liddell & Scott (1940) A Greek–English Lexicon, Oxford: Clarendon Press
• “ἰχθύς”, in Liddell & Scott (1889) An Intermediate Greek–English Lexicon, New York: Harper & Brothers
• “ἰχθύς”, in Autenrieth, Georg (1891) A Homeric Dictionary for Schools and Colleges, New York: Harper and Brothers
• ἰχθύς 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
• ἰχθύς in Cunliffe, Richard J. (1924) A Lexicon of the Homeric Dialect: Expanded Edition, Norman: University of Oklahoma Press, published 1963
• “ἰχθύς”, in Slater, William J. (1969) Lexicon to Pindar, Berlin: Walter de Gruyter
• G2486 in Strong, James (1979) Strong’s Exhaustive Concordance to the Bible
• Woodhouse, S. C. (1910) English–Greek Dictionary: A Vocabulary of the Attic Language‎^[1], London: Routledge & Kegan Paul Limited.
  • fish idem, page 323.
• ἰχθύς, in ΛΟΓΕΙΟΝ [Logeion] Dictionaries for Ancient Greek and Latin (in English, French, Spanish, German, Dutch and Chinese), University of Chicago, since 2011