ἴαμβος

Ancient Greek

Etymology

Probably of Pre-Greek substrate (Illyrian/Phrygian) origin;^[1]^[2]^[3] the OED suggests a derivation from ἰάπτω (iáptō, “to assail, attack verbally”), literally "send forth", cognate with ἵημι (híēmi, “I throw, hurl”), as iambic verse was first used by satirists,^[4] but this could just be folk etymology. Compare also similar words, like διθύραμβος (dithúrambos), θρίαμβος (thríambos) and ἴθυμβος (íthumbos).

Pronunciation

(5^th BCE Attic) IPA^(key): /í.am.bos/
(1^st CE Egyptian) IPA^(key): /ˈi.am.bos/
(4^th CE Koine) IPA^(key): /ˈi.am.bos/
(10^th CE Byzantine) IPA^(key): /ˈi.am.bos/
(15^th CE Constantinopolitan) IPA^(key): /ˈi.am.bos/

Noun

ῐ̓́ᾰμβος • (ĭ́ămbos) m (genitive ῐ̓ᾰ́μβου); second declension

iamb, a metrical foot
iambic verse or poem
(mostly in plural) lampoon
kind of extempore play got up by buffoons

Inflection

Second declension of ὁ ῐ̓́ᾰμβος; τοῦ ῐ̓ᾰ́μβου (Attic)

Case / #	Singular	Dual	Plural
Nominative	ὁ ῐ̓́ᾰμβος ho ĭ́ămbos	τὼ ῐ̓ᾰ́μβω tṑ ĭắmbō	οἱ ῐ̓́ᾰμβοι hoi ĭ́ămboi
Genitive	τοῦ ῐ̓ᾰ́μβου toû ĭắmbou	τοῖν ῐ̓ᾰ́μβοιν toîn ĭắmboin	τῶν ῐ̓ᾰ́μβων tôn ĭắmbōn
Dative	τῷ ῐ̓ᾰ́μβῳ tôi ĭắmbōi	τοῖν ῐ̓ᾰ́μβοιν toîn ĭắmboin	τοῖς ῐ̓ᾰ́μβοις toîs ĭắmbois
Accusative	τὸν ῐ̓́ᾰμβον tòn ĭ́ămbon	τὼ ῐ̓ᾰ́μβω tṑ ĭắmbō	τοὺς ῐ̓ᾰ́μβους toùs ĭắmbous
Vocative	ῐ̓́ᾰμβε ĭ́ămbe	ῐ̓ᾰ́μβω ĭắmbō	ῐ̓́ᾰμβοι ĭ́ămboi
Notes:	This table gives Attic inflectional endings. For declension in other dialects, see Appendix:Ancient Greek dialectal declension.

Derived terms

ἰαμβεῖος (iambeîos)
ἰαμβέλεγος (iambélegos)
ἰαμβίζω (iambízō)
ἰαμβικός (iambikós)
ἰαμβίς (iambís)
ἰαμβιστής (iambistḗs)
ἰαμβογράφος (iambográphos)
ἰαμβοειδής (iamboeidḗs)
ἰαμβοποιέω (iambopoiéō)
ἰαμβοποιός (iambopoiós)
ἰαμβύκη (iambúkē)
ἰαμβώδης (iambṓdēs)
χωλίαμβος (khōlíambos)

Descendants

→ Latin: iambus (see there for further descendants)

References

^ Roberts, Edward A. (2014) A Comprehensive Etymological Dictionary of the Spanish Language with Families of Words based on Indo-European Roots, Xlibris Corporation, →ISBN
^ “iamb”, in The American Heritage Dictionary of the English Language, 5th edition, Boston, Mass.: Houghton Mifflin Harcourt, 2016, →ISBN.
^ Beekes, Robert S. P. (2010) Etymological Dictionary of Greek (Leiden Indo-European Etymological Dictionary Series; 10), with the assistance of Lucien van Beek, Leiden, Boston: Brill, →ISBN
^ James A. H. Murray et al., editors (1884–1928), “Ἴαμβος”, in A New English Dictionary on Historical Principles (Oxford English Dictionary), London: Clarendon Press, →OCLC.