μύρμηξ

Ancient Greek

Alternative forms

μύρμος (múrmos)

Etymology

From Proto-Indo-European *morwi-. Related to Old Armenian մրջիւն (mrǰiwn) and Latin formica and perhaps Sanskrit वल्मी (valmī). Despite the suffix -ηκ- (-ēk-), which typically indicates origin from Pre-Greek (cf. Beekes 2014), Beekes considers this to be a genuinely Indo-European term which underwent various tabooistic deformations, comparing Proto-Indo-European *wr̥mis (“worm”) (see ῥόμος (rhómos, “wood-worm”)), and notes that similar forms with a velar suffix are found in other Indo-European cognates: Latin formīca (“ant”), Sanskrit वल्मीक (valmīka, “ant-hill”). Compare ὅρμικας pl (hórmikas, “ants”). βύρμαξ (búrmax) ~ βόρμαξ (bórmax) may be related as well.

Pronunciation

(5^th BCE Attic) IPA^(key): /mýr.mɛːks/
(1^st CE Egyptian) IPA^(key): /ˈmyr.me̝ks/
(4^th CE Koine) IPA^(key): /ˈmyr.miks/
(10^th CE Byzantine) IPA^(key): /ˈmyr.miks/
(15^th CE Constantinopolitan) IPA^(key): /ˈmir.miks/

Noun

μύρμηξ • (múrmēx) m (genitive μύρμηκος); third declension

ant
a mythical gold-digging animal sometimes identified with ants

Declension

Third declension of ὁ μύρμηξ; τοῦ μύρμηκος (Attic)

Case / #	Singular	Dual	Plural
Nominative	ὁ μύρμηξ ho múrmēx	τὼ μύρμηκε tṑ múrmēke	οἱ μύρμηκες hoi múrmēkes
Genitive	τοῦ μύρμηκος toû múrmēkos	τοῖν μυρμήκοιν toîn murmḗkoin	τῶν μυρμήκων tôn murmḗkōn
Dative	τῷ μύρμηκῐ tôi múrmēki	τοῖν μυρμήκοιν toîn murmḗkoin	τοῖς μύρμηξῐ / μύρμηξῐν toîs múrmēxi(n)
Accusative	τὸν μύρμηκᾰ tòn múrmēka	τὼ μύρμηκε tṑ múrmēke	τοὺς μύρμηκᾰς toùs múrmēkas
Vocative	μύρμηξ múrmēx	μύρμηκε múrmēke	μύρμηκες múrmēkes
Notes:	This table gives Attic inflectional endings. For declension in other dialects, see Appendix:Ancient Greek dialectal declension.

Derived terms

μυρμηδών (murmēdṓn, “ant nest”) > myrmidon

Descendants

→ English: myrmeco-, -myrmex
Koine Greek: μυρμήκιον (murmḗkion) (from diminutive)
- Byzantine Greek: μυρμήγκιν (murmḗnkin)
  - Greek: μυρμήγκι (myrmígki)
    - → Albanian: merimangë
      - → Aromanian: merimangã
→ Latin: myrmecias, myrmecitis, myrmecium
Translingual: Myrmica, Myrmecia

References

Beekes, Robert S. P. (2010) “μύρμηξ, -ηκος”, in Etymological Dictionary of Greek (Leiden Indo-European Etymological Dictionary Series; 10), with the assistance of Lucien van Beek, Leiden, Boston: Brill, →ISBN, page 982
Beekes, Robert S. P. (2014) Stefan Norbruis, editor, Pre-Greek: Phonology, Morphology, Lexicon, Leiden: Brill, →ISBN, page 34: “55. -ηκ-, -ηχ-”
“μύρμηξ”, in Liddell & Scott (1940) A Greek–English Lexicon, Oxford: Clarendon Press
“μύρμηξ”, in Liddell & Scott (1889) An Intermediate Greek–English Lexicon, New York: Harper & Brothers
μύρμηξ in Bailly, Anatole (1935) Le Grand Bailly: Dictionnaire grec-français, Paris: Hachette
μύρμηξ in Trapp, Erich, et al. (1994–2007) Lexikon zur byzantinischen Gräzität besonders des 9.-12. Jahrhunderts [the Lexicon of Byzantine Hellenism, Particularly the 9th–12th Centuries], Verlag der Österreichischen Akademie der Wissenschaften
Woodhouse, S. C. (1910) English–Greek Dictionary: A Vocabulary of the Attic Language‎, London: Routledge & Kegan Paul Limited.
- ant idem, page 32.

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