ἱερεύς

Ancient Greek

Alternative forms

• ῐ̔ᾰρεύς (hiareús) — Doric
• ῑ̔ρεύς (hīreús) — Ionic, Epic

Etymology

From ῐ̔ερός (hierós, “holy”) +‎ -εύς (-eús, suffix for person concerned). Compare Mycenaean Greek 𐀂𐀋𐀩𐀄 (i-je-re-u).

Pronunciation

 

• IPA^(key): /hi.e.rěu̯s/ → /i.eˈreɸs/ → /i.eˈrefs/

• (5^th BCE Attic) IPA^(key): /hi.e.rěu̯s/
• (1^st CE Egyptian) IPA^(key): /(h)i.eˈrews/
• (4^th CE Koine) IPA^(key): /i.eˈreɸs/
• (10^th CE Byzantine) IPA^(key): /i.eˈrefs/
• (15^th CE Constantinopolitan) IPA^(key): /i.eˈrefs/

Noun

ῐ̔ερεύς • (hiereús) m (genitive ῐ̔ερέως); third declension

1. priest, diviner, sacrificer

Inflection

Third declension of ὁ ῐ̔ερεύς; τοῦ ῐ̔ερέως (Attic)

Case / #	Singular	Dual	Plural
Nominative	ὁ ῐ̔ερεύς ho hiereús	τὼ ῐ̔ερῆ tṑ hierê	οἱ ῐ̔ερῆς / ῐ̔ερεῖς hoi hierês / hiereîs
Genitive	τοῦ ῐ̔ερέως toû hieréōs	τοῖν ῐ̔ερέοιν toîn hieréoin	τῶν ῐ̔ερέων tôn hieréōn
Dative	τῷ ῐ̔ερεῖ tôi hiereî	τοῖν ῐ̔ερέοιν toîn hieréoin	τοῖς ῐ̔ερεῦσῐ / ῐ̔ερεῦσῐν toîs hiereûsi(n)
Accusative	τὸν ῐ̔ερέᾱ tòn hieréā	τὼ ῐ̔ερῆ tṑ hierê	τοὺς ῐ̔ερέᾱς toùs hieréās
Vocative	ῐ̔ερεῦ hiereû	ῐ̔ερῆ hierê	ῐ̔ερῆς / ῐ̔ερεῖς hierês / hiereîs
Notes:	This table gives Attic inflectional endings. For declension in other dialects, see Appendix:Ancient Greek dialectal declension.

Third declension of ῐ̔ερεύς; ῐ̔ερῆος (Epic)

Case / #	Singular	Dual	Plural
Nominative	ῐ̔ερεύς hiereús	ῐ̔ερῆε hierêe	ῐ̔ερῆες hierêes
Genitive	ῐ̔ερῆος / ῐ̔ερέος hierêos / hieréos	ῐ̔ερήοιῐν hierḗoiin	ῐ̔ερήων hierḗōn
Dative	ῐ̔ερῆῐ̈ / ῐ̔ερέῐ̈ hierêï / hieréï	ῐ̔ερήοιῐν hierḗoiin	ῐ̔ερήεσσῐ / ῐ̔ερήεσσῐν / ῐ̔ερεῦσῐ / ῐ̔ερεῦσῐν hierḗessi(n) / hiereûsi(n)
Accusative	ῐ̔ερῆᾰ / ῐ̔ερέᾰ hierêa / hieréa	ῐ̔ερῆε hierêe	ῐ̔ερῆᾰς hierêas
Vocative	ῐ̔ερεῦ hiereû	ῐ̔ερῆε hierêe	ῐ̔ερῆες hierêes
Notes:	Dialects other than Attic are not well attested. Some forms may be based on conjecture. Use with caution.

Synonyms

• ῐ̔έρειᾰ f (hiéreia, “priestess”)

Derived terms

• ἀρχιερεύς (arkhiereús)
• ἱερατεία (hierateía)
• ἱερατεύω (hierateúō)
• ἱερατικός (hieratikós)

 

Descendants

• Greek: ιερέας m (ieréas)
• Russian: иерей m (ijerej)

References

• “ἱερεύς”, in Liddell & Scott (1940) A Greek–English Lexicon, Oxford: Clarendon Press
• “ἱερεύς”, in Liddell & Scott (1889) An Intermediate Greek–English Lexicon, New York: Harper & Brothers
• “ἱερεύς”, in Autenrieth, Georg (1891) A Homeric Dictionary for Schools and Colleges, New York: Harper and Brothers
• ἱερεύς 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
• ἱερεύς in Cunliffe, Richard J. (1924) A Lexicon of the Homeric Dialect: Expanded Edition, Norman: University of Oklahoma Press, published 1963
• “ἱερεύς”, in Slater, William J. (1969) Lexicon to Pindar, Berlin: Walter de Gruyter
• G2409 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.
  • priest idem, page 640.