ἱπποκένταυρος

Ancient Greek

Etymology

From ἵππος (híppos, “horse”) +‎ Κένταυρος (Kéntauros, “Centaur”). While "horse centaur" may seem redundant, it should be noted that Κένταυρος (Kéntauros) originally referred to a race of people, the Centaurs, who are associated in some myths with the origin of the creature "centaur". This term likely made the distinction between a person of the Centaur race and the creature, until later, when the word κένταυρος (kéntauros) simply referred to the creature. Note that while Wiktionary distinguishes between upper and lower case in Ancient Greek words, Ancient Greek did not (minuscules were not invented until the seventh century).

Pronunciation

 

• IPA^(key): /hip.po.kén.tau̯.ros/ → /ip.poˈcen.ta.βros/ → /i.poˈcen.da.vros/

• (5^th BCE Attic) IPA^(key): /hip.po.kén.tau̯.ros/
• (1^st CE Egyptian) IPA^(key): /(h)ip.poˈken.taw.ros/
• (4^th CE Koine) IPA^(key): /ip.poˈcen.ta.βros/
• (10^th CE Byzantine) IPA^(key): /ip.poˈcen.ta.vros/
• (15^th CE Constantinopolitan) IPA^(key): /i.poˈcen.da.vros/

Noun

ῐ̔πποκένταυρος • (hĭppokéntauros) m (genitive ῐ̔πποκενταύρου); second declension

1. centaur
2. any mythical creature [later]

Inflection

Second declension of ὁ ῐ̔πποκένταυρος; τοῦ ῐ̔πποκενταύρου (Attic)

Case / #	Singular	Dual	Plural
Nominative	ὁ ῐ̔πποκένταυρος ho hĭppokéntauros	τὼ ῐ̔πποκενταύρω tṑ hĭppokentaúrō	οἱ ῐ̔πποκένταυροι hoi hĭppokéntauroi
Genitive	τοῦ ῐ̔πποκενταύρου toû hĭppokentaúrou	τοῖν ῐ̔πποκενταύροιν toîn hĭppokentaúroin	τῶν ῐ̔πποκενταύρων tôn hĭppokentaúrōn
Dative	τῷ ῐ̔πποκενταύρῳ tôi hĭppokentaúrōi	τοῖν ῐ̔πποκενταύροιν toîn hĭppokentaúroin	τοῖς ῐ̔πποκενταύροις toîs hĭppokentaúrois
Accusative	τὸν ῐ̔πποκένταυρον tòn hĭppokéntauron	τὼ ῐ̔πποκενταύρω tṑ hĭppokentaúrō	τοὺς ῐ̔πποκενταύρους toùs hĭppokentaúrous
Vocative	ῐ̔πποκένταυρε hĭppokéntaure	ῐ̔πποκενταύρω hĭppokentaúrō	ῐ̔πποκένταυροι hĭppokéntauroi
Notes:	This table gives Attic inflectional endings. For declension in other dialects, see Appendix:Ancient Greek dialectal declension.

Descendants

• → Latin: hippocentaurus
  • → English: hippocentaur
  • → French: hippocentaure

References

• “ἱπποκένταυρος”, in Liddell & Scott (1940) A Greek–English Lexicon, Oxford: Clarendon Press
• “ἱπποκένταυρος”, in Liddell & Scott (1889) An Intermediate Greek–English Lexicon, New York: Harper & Brothers
• ἱπποκένταυρος in Bailly, Anatole (1935) Le Grand Bailly: Dictionnaire grec-français, Paris: Hachette