θύρσος

Ancient Greek

Etymology

Probably an Anatolian loanword. Compare Luwian tuwarsa "vine"..

Pronunciation

• (5th BC Attic): IPA: /tʰýrsos/

• (1st BC Egyptian): IPA: /tʰýrsos/

• (4th AD Koine): IPA: /θýrsos/

• (10th AD Byzantine): IPA: /θýrsos/

• (15th AD Constantinopolitan): IPA: /θíɾsos/

Noun

θύρσος (genitive θύρσου) m, second declension; (thursos)

1. a wand wreathed in ivy and vine-leaves with a pine-cone at the top, carried by the devotees of Dionysus
2. the devotees themselves
3. Hesychius defines it as κλάδος (klados, “stick, branch”), ῥάβδος (rhabdos, “stick, rod”)

Inflection

Second declension of θύρσος, θύρσου

Case / #	Singular	Dual	Plural
Nominative	θύρσος	θύρσω	θύρσοι
Genitive	θύρσου	θύρσοιν	θύρσων
Dative	θύρσῳ	θύρσοιν	θύρσοις
Accusative	θύρσον	θύρσω	θύρσους
Vocative	θύρσε	θύρσω	θύρσοι

References

• LSJ
• Robert S. P. Beekes (2009) Etymological Dictionary of Greek (Brill Academic Publishers)