ἄσις

Ancient Greek

Etymology

Unknown. The comparison with Sanskrit असित (asita, “dark, black”) presupposes that the -σ- in this word was preserved after *-n̥-. Nikolaev pleads for a reconstruction *h₂nsi- for these words, but there is no compelling evidence for h₂-. Compared also to Hittite ḫanzana- (“black”). However, the etymology is still uncertain.

Pronunciation

 

• IPA^(key): /á.sis/ → /ˈa.sis/ → /ˈa.sis/

• (5^th BCE Attic) IPA^(key): /á.sis/
• (1^st CE Egyptian) IPA^(key): /ˈa.sis/
• (4^th CE Koine) IPA^(key): /ˈa.sis/
• (10^th CE Byzantine) IPA^(key): /ˈa.sis/
• (15^th CE Constantinopolitan) IPA^(key): /ˈa.sis/

Noun

ἄσῐς • (ásis) f (genitive ἄσῐος); third declension

1. mud, slime

   Synonyms: ἰλύς (ilús), ὗλις (hûlis)

Inflection

Third declension of ἡ ᾰ̓́σῐς; τῆς ᾰ̓́σῐος (Attic)

Case / #	Singular	Dual	Plural
Nominative	ἡ ᾰ̓́σῐς hē ásis	τὼ ᾰ̓́σῐε tṑ ásie	αἱ ᾰ̓́σῐες hai ásies
Genitive	τῆς ᾰ̓́σῐος tês ásios	τοῖν ᾰ̓σῐ́οιν toîn asíoin	τῶν ᾰ̓σῐ́ων tôn asíōn
Dative	τῇ ᾰ̓́σῑ têi ásī	τοῖν ᾰ̓σῐ́οιν toîn asíoin	ταῖς ᾰ̓́σῐσῐ / ᾰ̓́σῐσῐν taîs ásisi(n)
Accusative	τὴν ᾰ̓́σῐν tḕn ásin	τὼ ᾰ̓́σῐε tṑ ásie	τᾱ̀ς ᾰ̓́σῑς / ᾰ̓́σῐᾰς tā̀s ásīs / ásias
Vocative	ᾰ̓́σῐ ási	ᾰ̓́σῐε ásie	ᾰ̓́σῐες ásies
Notes:	This table gives Attic inflectional endings. For declension in other dialects, see Appendix:Ancient Greek dialectal declension.

Derived terms

• ἀσώδης (asṓdēs)

Further reading

• “ἄσις”, in Liddell & Scott (1940) A Greek–English Lexicon, Oxford: Clarendon Press
• “ἄσις”, in Liddell & Scott (1889) An Intermediate Greek–English Lexicon, New York: Harper & Brothers
• “ἄσις”, in Autenrieth, Georg (1891) A Homeric Dictionary for Schools and Colleges, New York: Harper and Brothers
• ἄσις in Bailly, Anatole (1935) Le Grand Bailly: Dictionnaire grec-français, Paris: Hachette
• ἄσις in Cunliffe, Richard J. (1924) A Lexicon of the Homeric Dialect: Expanded Edition, Norman: University of Oklahoma Press, published 1963
• ἄσις in the Diccionario Griego–Español en línea (2006–2024)
• 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