ὄσπριον

Ancient Greek

Alternative forms

• ὄσπρεον (óspreon)

Etymology

Of unclear origin. Connections with σπεῖρον (speîron, “wrapping cover”) and σπείρω (speírō, “to sow”) have been suggested, but this is impossible because "ὀ" is not a prothetic vowel. The word is more likely a substrate borrowing, perhaps from the same source as Old Armenian ոսպն (ospn, “lentil”).

Pronunciation

 

• IPA^(key): /ós.pri.on/ → /ˈos.pri.on/ → /ˈos.pri.on/

• (5^th BCE Attic) IPA^(key): /ós.pri.on/
• (1^st CE Egyptian) IPA^(key): /ˈos.pri.on/
• (4^th CE Koine) IPA^(key): /ˈos.pri.on/
• (10^th CE Byzantine) IPA^(key): /ˈos.pri.on/
• (15^th CE Constantinopolitan) IPA^(key): /ˈos.pri.on/

Noun

ὄσπρῐον • (ósprion) n (genitive ὀσπρίου); second declension

1. (botany) pulse, legume (of all kinds)

Inflection

Second declension of τὸ ὄσπρῐον; τοῦ ὀσπρῐ́ου (Attic)

Case / #	Singular	Dual	Plural
Nominative	τὸ ὄσπρῐον tò ósprion	τὼ ὀσπρῐ́ω tṑ ospríō	τᾰ̀ ὄσπρῐᾰ tà óspria
Genitive	τοῦ ὀσπρῐ́ου toû ospríou	τοῖν ὀσπρῐ́οιν toîn ospríoin	τῶν ὀσπρῐ́ων tôn ospríōn
Dative	τῷ ὀσπρῐ́ῳ tôi ospríōi	τοῖν ὀσπρῐ́οιν toîn ospríoin	τοῖς ὀσπρῐ́οις toîs ospríois
Accusative	τὸ ὄσπρῐον tò ósprion	τὼ ὀσπρῐ́ω tṑ ospríō	τᾰ̀ ὄσπρῐᾰ tà óspria
Vocative	ὄσπρῐον ósprion	ὀσπρῐ́ω ospríō	ὄσπρῐᾰ óspria
Notes:	This table gives Attic inflectional endings. For declension in other dialects, see Appendix:Ancient Greek dialectal declension.

Derived terms

• ὀσπριοδόχος (ospriodókhos)
• ὀσπριοθήκη (ospriothḗkē)
• ὀσπριοπώλης (ospriopṓlēs)
• ὀσπριοφαγέω (ospriophagéō)
• ὀσπριώδης (ospriṓdēs)

 

Descendants

• Greek: όσπριο (ósprio)

Further reading

• “ὄσπριον”, in Liddell & Scott (1940) A Greek–English Lexicon, Oxford: Clarendon Press
• ὄσπριον in Bailly, Anatole (1935) Le Grand Bailly: Dictionnaire grec-français, Paris: Hachette