πρόβατον

Ancient Greek

FWOTD – 3 October 2018

From προβαίνω (probaínō, “to go on”) + -τος (-tos).

πρόβατον • (próbaton) n (genitive προβάτου); second declension

(mostly in plural)
1. (Ionic, Doric) cattle, flocks, herds
  - 460 BCE – 420 BCE, Herodotus, Histories 2.41
  - 460 BCE – 370 BCE, Hippocrates, On Joints 8
  - 460 BCE – 420 BCE, Herodotus, Histories 4.61
  - 800 BCE – 600 BCE, Homer, Iliad 14.124
  - 800 BCE – 600 BCE, Homer, Iliad 23.550
  - 7th–6th centuries BC, Homeric Hymn to Hermes 571
  - 750 BCE – 650 BCE, Hesiod, Works and Days 558
  - 460 BCE – 420 BCE, Herodotus, Histories 1.203
  - 460 BCE – 420 BCE, Herodotus, Histories 1.133
2. (Attic, Koine) sheep
  Synonym: οἶς (oîs), ἀρήν (arḗn)
  - 414 BCE, Aristophanes, The Birds 714
  - 460 BCE – 395 BCE, Thucydides, History of the Peloponnesian War 2.14
3. slaughtered animals, animals for sacrifices
  - 460 BCE – 420 BCE, Herodotus, Histories 6.56
  - 460 BCE – 420 BCE, Herodotus, Histories 1.207
4. (proverbial) stupid, lazy people
  - 423 BCE, Aristophanes, The Clouds 1203
  - 422 BCE, Aristophanes, The Wasps 32
  - 155 CE – 235 CE, Cassius Dio, Collected Works 59.8
  - 200 BCE – 118 BCE, Polybius, The Histories 5.35.13
a kind of marine fish
- Oppian, Halieutica 1.146
- Oppian, Halieutica 3.139
- 175 CE – 235 CE, Claudius Aelianus, On the Nature of Animals 9.38

Case / #	Singular	Dual	Plural
Nominative	τὸ πρόβατον tò próbaton	τὼ προβάτω tṑ probátō	τᾰ̀ πρόβατᾰ tà próbata
Genitive	τοῦ προβάτου toû probátou	τοῖν προβάτοιν toîn probátoin	τῶν προβάτων tôn probátōn
Dative	τῷ προβάτῳ tôi probátōi	τοῖν προβάτοιν toîn probátoin	τοῖς προβάτοις toîs probátois
Accusative	τὸ πρόβατον tò próbaton	τὼ προβάτω tṑ probátō	τᾰ̀ πρόβατᾰ tà próbata
Vocative	πρόβατον próbaton	προβάτω probátō	πρόβατᾰ próbata
Notes:	This table gives Attic inflectional endings. For declension in other dialects, see Appendix:Ancient Greek dialectal declension.