ὀρίγανον

Ancient Greek

Alternative forms

ὀρῑ́γᾰνος (orī́gănos)

Etymology

Disputed; some sources claim a compound of ὄρος (óros, “mountain”) +‎ γάνος (gános, “brightness, freshness”),^[1] though Beekes suspects that the word is a foreign borrowing and was folk-etymologically adapted to more closely resemble the supposed component words given above.^[2]

Pronunciation

(5^th BCE Attic) IPA^(key): /o.rǐː.ɡa.non/
(1^st CE Egyptian) IPA^(key): /oˈri.ɡa.non/
(4^th CE Koine) IPA^(key): /oˈri.ɣa.non/
(10^th CE Byzantine) IPA^(key): /oˈri.ɣa.non/
(15^th CE Constantinopolitan) IPA^(key): /oˈri.ɣa.non/

Noun

ὀρῑ́γᾰνον • (orī́gănon) n (genitive ὀρῑγᾰ́νου); second declension

oregano, marjoram
sourness, bitterness

Inflection

Second declension of τὸ ὀρῑ́γᾰνον; τοῦ ὀρῑγᾰ́νου (Attic)

Case / #	Singular	Dual	Plural
Nominative	τὸ ὀρῑ́γᾰνον tò orī́gănon	τὼ ὀρῑγᾰ́νω tṑ orīgắnō	τᾰ̀ ὀρῑ́γᾰνᾰ tằ orī́gănă
Genitive	τοῦ ὀρῑγᾰ́νου toû orīgắnou	τοῖν ὀρῑγᾰ́νοιν toîn orīgắnoin	τῶν ὀρῑγᾰ́νων tôn orīgắnōn
Dative	τῷ ὀρῑγᾰ́νῳ tôi orīgắnōi	τοῖν ὀρῑγᾰ́νοιν toîn orīgắnoin	τοῖς ὀρῑγᾰ́νοις toîs orīgắnois
Accusative	τὸ ὀρῑ́γᾰνον tò orī́gănon	τὼ ὀρῑγᾰ́νω tṑ orīgắnō	τᾰ̀ ὀρῑ́γᾰνᾰ tằ orī́gănă
Vocative	ὀρῑ́γᾰνον orī́gănon	ὀρῑγᾰ́νω orīgắnō	ὀρῑ́γᾰνᾰ orī́gănă
Notes:	This table gives Attic inflectional endings. For declension in other dialects, see Appendix:Ancient Greek dialectal declension.

Descendants

Latin: orīganum

References

^ Douglas Harper (2001–2025) “oregano”, in Online Etymology Dictionary.
^ Beekes, Robert S. P. (2010) “ὀρῑ́γανον”, in Etymological Dictionary of Greek (Leiden Indo-European Etymological Dictionary Series; 10), volume II, with the assistance of Lucien van Beek, Leiden, Boston: Brill, →ISBN, page 1102