ὄρυξ

Ancient Greek

Etymology

A back-formation related to ὀρύσσω (orússō, “I dig, scrape”).

The sense of oryx is likely a substrate loanword accreted by folk-etymological analogy with the animal's pointed horns.

Pronunciation

 

• IPA^(key): /ó.ryks/ → /ˈo.ryks/ → /ˈo.riks/

• (5^th BCE Attic) IPA^(key): /ó.ryks/
• (1^st CE Egyptian) IPA^(key): /ˈo.ryks/
• (4^th CE Koine) IPA^(key): /ˈo.ryks/
• (10^th CE Byzantine) IPA^(key): /ˈo.ryks/
• (15^th CE Constantinopolitan) IPA^(key): /ˈo.riks/

Noun

ὄρυξ • (órux) m (genitive ὄρῠγος); third declension

1. a pickaxe or other sharp iron digging tool
2. an oryx
3. a kind of whale, perhaps a narwhal

Declension

Third declension of ὁ ὄρῠξ; τοῦ ὄρῠγος (Attic)

Case / #	Singular	Dual	Plural
Nominative	ὁ ὄρῠξ ho órŭx	τὼ ὄρῠγε tṑ órŭge	οἱ ὄρῠγες hoi órŭges
Genitive	τοῦ ὄρῠγος toû órŭgos	τοῖν ὀρῠ́γοιν toîn orŭ́goin	τῶν ὀρῠ́γων tôn orŭ́gōn
Dative	τῷ ὄρῠγῐ tôi órŭgĭ	τοῖν ὀρῠ́γοιν toîn orŭ́goin	τοῖς ὄρῠξῐ / ὄρῠξῐν toîs órŭxĭ(n)
Accusative	τὸν ὄρῠγᾰ tòn órŭgă	τὼ ὄρῠγε tṑ órŭge	τοὺς ὄρῠγᾰς toùs órŭgăs
Vocative	ὄρῠξ órŭx	ὄρῠγε órŭge	ὄρῠγες órŭges
Notes:	This table gives Attic inflectional endings. For declension in other dialects, see Appendix:Ancient Greek dialectal declension.

Further reading

• “ὄρυξ”, in Liddell & Scott (1940) A Greek–English Lexicon, Oxford: Clarendon Press
• “ὄρυξ”, in Liddell & Scott (1889) An Intermediate Greek–English Lexicon, New York: Harper & Brothers
• ὄρυξ in Bailly, Anatole (1935) Le Grand Bailly: Dictionnaire grec-français, Paris: Hachette
• ὄρυξ, in ΛΟΓΕΙΟΝ [Logeion] Dictionaries for Ancient Greek and Latin (in English, French, Spanish, German, Dutch and Chinese), University of Chicago, since 2011