κυψέλη

Ancient Greek

Alternative forms

• κῠψάλη (kupsálē)

Etymology

Not related to κύπη (kúpē, “kind of ship”), nor derived from κύπτω (kúptō, “to bend, stoop”). According to Beekes, clearly a Pre-Greek word, given the variant.

Pronunciation

 

• IPA^(key): /kyp.sé.lɛː/ → /cypˈse.li/ → /cipˈse.li/

• (5^th BCE Attic) IPA^(key): /kyp.sé.lɛː/
• (1^st CE Egyptian) IPA^(key): /kypˈse.le̝/
• (4^th CE Koine) IPA^(key): /cypˈse.li/
• (10^th CE Byzantine) IPA^(key): /cypˈse.li/
• (15^th CE Constantinopolitan) IPA^(key): /cipˈse.li/

Noun

κῠψέλη • (kupsélē) f (genitive κῠψέλης); first declension

1. chest, box, any hollow vessel
2. beehive, hive

   Synonym: σίμβλος (símblos)

3. (anatomy) hollow of the ear

Inflection

First declension of ἡ κῠψέλη; τῆς κῠψέλης (Attic)

Case / #	Singular	Dual	Plural
Nominative	ἡ κῠψέλη hē kupsélē	τὼ κῠψέλᾱ tṑ kupsélā	αἱ κῠψέλαι hai kupsélai
Genitive	τῆς κῠψέλης tês kupsélēs	τοῖν κῠψέλαιν toîn kupsélain	τῶν κῠψελῶν tôn kupselôn
Dative	τῇ κῠψέλῃ têi kupsélēi	τοῖν κῠψέλαιν toîn kupsélain	ταῖς κῠψέλαις taîs kupsélais
Accusative	τὴν κῠψέλην tḕn kupsélēn	τὼ κῠψέλᾱ tṑ kupsélā	τᾱ̀ς κῠψέλᾱς tā̀s kupsélās
Vocative	κῠψέλη kupsélē	κῠψέλᾱ kupsélā	κῠψέλαι kupsélai
Notes:	This table gives Attic inflectional endings. For declension in other dialects, see Appendix:Ancient Greek dialectal declension.

Derived terms

• Κύψελος (Kúpselos)
• κῠψελόβῠστος (kupselóbustos)
• κῠψέλῐον (kupsélion)
• κῠψελῐ́ς (kupselís)

 

Descendants

• Greek: κυψέλη (kypséli)

Further reading

• “κυψέλη”, in Liddell & Scott (1940) A Greek–English Lexicon, Oxford: Clarendon Press
• “κυψέλη”, in Liddell & Scott (1889) An Intermediate Greek–English Lexicon, New York: Harper & Brothers
• κυψέλη in Bailly, Anatole (1935) Le Grand Bailly: Dictionnaire grec-français, Paris: Hachette
• Beekes, Robert S. P. (2010) “κυψέλη”, in Etymological Dictionary of Greek (Leiden Indo-European Etymological Dictionary Series; 10), with the assistance of Lucien van Beek, Leiden, Boston: Brill, →ISBN, page 811

Greek

Noun

κυψέλη • (kypséli) f (plural κυψέλες)

1. beehive, hive

Declension

declension of κυψέλη

case     \     number	singular	plural
nominative	κυψέλη •	κυψέλες •
genitive	κυψέλης •	κυψελών •
accusative	κυψέλη •	κυψέλες •
vocative	κυψέλη •	κυψέλες •

Synonyms

• μελίσσι n (melíssi, “beehive, bee colony”)

See also

• κηρήθρα f (kiríthra, “beeswax, honeycomb”)
• κυψελίδα f (kypselída, “ear wax; alveolus”)

Further reading

• κυψέλη on the Greek Wikipedia.Wikipedia ^el