Ὠκεανός

See also: Ωκεανός, ωκεανός, and ὠκεανός

Ancient Greek

Etymology

Uncertain, though generally acknowledged to be a non-Indo-European substrate loan, with Beekes noting that the concept of a "world-river" is not native to Indo-European mythology. A possible relationship with the Semitic root ʕ-w-g (“to be crooked, tortuous”) has been discussed.^[1] (This etymology is missing or incomplete. Please add to it, or discuss it at the Etymology scriptorium. Particularly: “What are some examples of Semitic words with this root?”) Another possibility includes a derivation from unattested Sumerian *A-ki-an(u) (Water of the Land and Heaven).^[2]

Beekes suggests a Pre-Greek form *ūkʲān-.^[3] Michael Janda has reminded the scientific community of an earlier comparison^[4] with the Vedic dragon Vṛtra's attribute āśáyāna- “lying on [the waters]”, claiming it to be an exact phonetical transposition of the Greek word, both stemming from Proto-Indo-European *ō-ḱey-m̥[h₁]no- (“lying on”), related to κεῖμαι (keîmai, “to lie”).

Pronunciation

(5^th BCE Attic) IPA^(key): /ɔː.ke.a.nós/
(1^st CE Egyptian) IPA^(key): /o.ke.aˈnos/
(4^th CE Koine) IPA^(key): /o.ce.aˈnos/
(10^th CE Byzantine) IPA^(key): /o.ce.aˈnos/
(15^th CE Constantinopolitan) IPA^(key): /o.ce.aˈnos/

Hyphenation: Ὠ‧κε‧α‧νός

Proper noun

Ὠκεᾰνός • (Ōkeănós) m (genitive Ὠκεᾰνοῦ); second declension

Oceanus, a Greek water god usually said to be a Titan, one of the sons of Uranus and Gaia.
The great freshwater river thought to encompass the world
The great saline outer sea (the Atlantic), as opposed to the Mediterranean.

Inflection

Second declension of ὁ Ὠκεᾰνός; τοῦ Ὠκεᾰνοῦ (Attic)

Case / #	Singular	Dual	Plural
Nominative	ὁ Ὠκεᾰνός ho Ōkeănós	τὼ Ὠκεᾰνώ tṑ Ōkeănṓ	οἱ Ὠκεᾰνοί hoi Ōkeănoí
Genitive	τοῦ Ὠκεᾰνοῦ toû Ōkeănoû	τοῖν Ὠκεᾰνοῖν toîn Ōkeănoîn	τῶν Ὠκεᾰνῶν tôn Ōkeănôn
Dative	τῷ Ὠκεᾰνῷ tôi Ōkeănôi	τοῖν Ὠκεᾰνοῖν toîn Ōkeănoîn	τοῖς Ὠκεᾰνοῖς toîs Ōkeănoîs
Accusative	τὸν Ὠκεᾰνόν tòn Ōkeănón	τὼ Ὠκεᾰνώ tṑ Ōkeănṓ	τοὺς Ὠκεᾰνούς toùs Ōkeănoús
Vocative	Ὠκεᾰνέ Ōkeăné	Ὠκεᾰνώ Ōkeănṓ	Ὠκεᾰνοί Ōkeănoí
Notes:	This table gives Attic inflectional endings. For declension in other dialects, see Appendix:Ancient Greek dialectal declension.

Second declension of Ὠκεᾰνός; Ὠκεᾰνοῦ (Epic)

Case / #	Singular	Dual	Plural
Nominative	Ὠκεᾰνός Ōkeănós	Ὠκεᾰνώ Ōkeănṓ	Ὠκεᾰνοί Ōkeănoí
Genitive	Ὠκεᾰνοῦ / Ὠκεᾰνοῖο / Ὠκεᾰνόο Ōkeănoû / Ōkeănoîo / Ōkeănóo	Ὠκεᾰνοῖῐν Ōkeănoîĭn	Ὠκεᾰνῶν Ōkeănôn
Dative	Ὠκεᾰνῷ Ōkeănôi	Ὠκεᾰνοῖῐν Ōkeănoîĭn	Ὠκεᾰνοῖσῐ / Ὠκεᾰνοῖσῐν / Ὠκεᾰνοῖς Ōkeănoîsĭ(n) / Ōkeănoîs
Accusative	Ὠκεᾰνόν Ōkeănón	Ὠκεᾰνώ Ōkeănṓ	Ὠκεᾰνούς Ōkeănoús
Vocative	Ὠκεᾰνέ Ōkeăné	Ὠκεᾰνώ Ōkeănṓ	Ὠκεᾰνοί Ōkeănoí
Notes:	Dialects other than Attic are not well attested. Some forms may be based on conjecture. Use with caution.

Derived terms

Ὠκεᾰνῐ́ς (Ōkeănĭ́s)

Descendants

→ English: ocean, Ocean, Oceanus, Okeanos
Greek: Ωκεανός (Okeanós)
→ Latin: Ōceanus, Ōcianus (Old Latin)
- French: Océan
- Italian: Oceano
- Portuguese: Oceano
- Sicilian: Ucìanu
→ Russian: океа́н (okeán)
→ Turkish: Okyanus
→ Arabic: أُوقْيَانُوس (ʔūqyānūs)
→ Arabic: قاموس

References

^ Joaquín Sanmartín, Glossary of Old Syrian [GlOS] Preprint 7: ʔ - x(ḫ). Updated March 2016, p. 240
^ Bernal, Martin: Black Athena: The archaeological and documentary evidence. Rutgers University Press, 1987, Chapter 7, page 301
^ Beekes, Robert S. P. (2010) “Ὠκεανός”, in Etymological Dictionary of Greek (Leiden Indo-European Etymological Dictionary Series; 10), with the assistance of Lucien van Beek, Leiden, Boston: Brill, →ISBN, page 1677
^ Traced back to Adalbert Kuhn, ὠκεανός, in: Zeitschrift für vergleichende Sprachforschung auf dem Gebiet des Deutschen, Griechischen und Lateinischen, vol. 9 (1860), 240, who had refined an earlier suggestion by Theodor Benfey.