Ἔμπουσα

Ancient Greek

Etymology

A folk etymology construes the name to mean "one-footed", from ἕν (hén) +‎ πούς (poús, “foot”). However, as Beekes notes, the word is probably Pre-Greek in view of the suffix -ουσα; compare ἄγχουσα (ánkhousa), αἴθουσα (aíthousa), κάδουσα (kádousa) and νήθουσα (nḗthousa).

Pronunciation

 

• IPA^(key): /ém.puː.sa/ → /ˈem.pu.sa/ → /ˈem.bu.sa/

• (5^th BCE Attic) IPA^(key): /ém.puː.sa/
• (1^st CE Egyptian) IPA^(key): /ˈem.pu.sa/
• (4^th CE Koine) IPA^(key): /ˈem.pu.sa/
• (10^th CE Byzantine) IPA^(key): /ˈem.pu.sa/
• (15^th CE Constantinopolitan) IPA^(key): /ˈem.bu.sa/

Proper noun

Ἔμπουσᾰ • (Émpousa) f (genitive Ἐμπούσης); first declension

1. (mythology) Empusa, kind of one-legged spectre assuming various shapes, said to be sent by Hecate

Inflection

First declension of ἡ Ἔμπουσᾰ; τῆς Ἐμπούσης (Attic)

Case / #	Singular
Nominative	ἡ Ἔμπουσᾰ hē Émpousa
Genitive	τῆς Ἐμπούσης tês Empoúsēs
Dative	τῇ Ἐμπούσῃ têi Empoúsēi
Accusative	τὴν Ἔμπουσᾰν tḕn Émpousan
Vocative	Ἔμπουσᾰ Émpousa
Notes:	This table gives Attic inflectional endings. For declension in other dialects, see Appendix:Ancient Greek dialectal declension.

Descendants

• → English: empusa, empousa
• Greek: Έμπουσα (Émpousa)
• → Latin: Empūsa
• → Translingual: Empusa

Further reading

• “Ἔμπουσα”, in Liddell & Scott (1940) A Greek–English Lexicon, Oxford: Clarendon Press
• “Ἔμπουσα”, in Liddell & Scott (1889) An Intermediate Greek–English Lexicon, New York: Harper & Brothers
• Ἔμπουσα in the Diccionario Griego–Español en línea (2006–2024)
• Woodhouse, S. C. (1910) English–Greek Dictionary: A Vocabulary of the Attic Language‎^[1], London: Routledge & Kegan Paul Limited, page 1,009
• Beekes, Robert S. P. (2010) “Ἔμπουσα”, in Etymological Dictionary of Greek (Leiden Indo-European Etymological Dictionary Series; 10), with the assistance of Lucien van Beek, Leiden, Boston: Brill, →ISBN, page 419