ἰχθύς

See also: ιχθύς and ΙΧΘΥΣ

Ancient Greek

Alternative forms
  • ἰχθῦς (ikhthûs)

Etymology

Perhaps from Proto-Indo-European *dʰǵʰu-, but the initial ἰ is unetymological and problematic.[1][2] Compare Old Armenian ձուկն (jukn) and Lithuanian žuvis.

Pronunciation
 

Noun

ἰχθῡ́ς • (ikhthū́s) m (genitive ἰχθῠ́ος); third declension

  1. fish
    • 800 BCE – 600 BCE, Homer, Iliad 24.82:
      ἔρχεται ὠμηστῇσιν ἐπ’ ἰχθύσι κῆρα φέρουσα
      érkhetai ōmēstêisin ep’ ikhthúsi kêra phérousa
      goeth down bearing death to the ravenous fishes
    1. (figuratively) stupid person
    2. (in the plural) fish market
      • 405 BCE, Aristophanes, The Frogs 1068:
        κἂν ταῦτα λέγων ἐξαπατήσῃ, παρὰ τοὺς ἰχθῦς ἀνέκυψεν.
        kàn taûta légōn exapatḗsēi, parà toùs ikhthûs anékupsen.
        And if he fooled 'em with that story, he'd pop up in the fish market.
    3. (in the plural) Pisces (constellation)
      • 190 BCE – 120 BCE, Hipparchus, Collected Works 1.2.3
      • 234 CE – 305 CE, Porphyry, Antr. 22

Inflection
Third declension of ὁ ἰχθῡ́ς; τοῦ ἰχθῠ́ος (Attic)
Case / # Singular Dual Plural
Nominative ὁ ἰχθῡ́ς
ho ikhthū́s		 τὼ ἰχθῠ́ε
tṑ ikhthúe		 οἱ ἰχθῠ́ες
hoi ikhthúes
Genitive τοῦ ἰχθῠ́ος
toû ikhthúos		 τοῖν ἰχθῠ́οιν
toîn ikhthúoin		 τῶν ἰχθῠ́ων
tôn ikhthúōn
Dative τῷ ἰχθῠ́ῐ̈
tôi ikhthúï		 τοῖν ἰχθῠ́οιν
toîn ikhthúoin		 τοῖς ἰχθῠ́σῐ / ἰχθῠ́σῐν
toîs ikhthúsi(n)
Accusative τὸν ἰχθῡ́ν / ἰχθῠ́ᾰ
tòn ikhthū́n / ikhthúa		 τὼ ἰχθῠ́ε
tṑ ikhthúe		 τοὺς ἰχθῦς / ἰχθῠ́ᾰς
toùs ikhthûs / ikhthúas
Vocative ἰχθῡ́
ikhthū́		 ἰχθῠ́ε
ikhthúe		 ἰχθῠ́ες
ikhthúes
Notes:
  • This table gives Attic inflectional endings. For declension in other dialects, see Appendix:Ancient Greek dialectal declension.

Derived terms

Descendants
  • Greek: ιχθύς (ichthýs)
  • → English: ichthys

References
  • ἰχθύς in Wilhelm Pape's Handwörterbuch der griechischen Sprache: Griechisch-deutsches Handwörterbuch. 1875. Vol I, pg. 582/1.
  1. Pokorny, Julius (1959) Indogermanisches etymologisches Wörterbuch [Indo-European Etymological Dictionary] (in German), Bern, München: Francke Verlag
  2. Beekes, Robert S. P. (2010) Etymological Dictionary of Greek (Leiden Indo-European Etymological Dictionary Series; 10), with the assistance of Lucien van Beek, Leiden, Boston: Brill, →ISBN, pages 606-607

Further reading
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