δέσποινα

See also: Δέσποινα

Ancient Greek

Etymology

From Proto-Hellenic *déspoňňa, from Proto-Indo-European *déms pótnih₂ (“lady of the house”). Cognate with Avestan 𐬛𐬆𐬨𐬄𐬥𐬋.𐬞𐬀𐬚𐬥𐬍 (dəmąnō.paθnī, “mistress, housekeeper”) and Persian بانو (bânu, “lady”). Female counterpart of δεσπότης (despótēs, “lord”). By surface analysis, δεσπότης (despótēs) +‎ -ινα (-ina).

Pronunciation

 

• IPA^(key): /dés.poi̯.na/ → /ˈðes.py.na/ → /ˈðes.pi.na/

• (5^th BCE Attic) IPA^(key): /dés.poi̯.na/
• (1^st CE Egyptian) IPA^(key): /ˈdes.py.na/
• (4^th CE Koine) IPA^(key): /ˈðes.py.na/
• (10^th CE Byzantine) IPA^(key): /ˈðes.py.na/
• (15^th CE Constantinopolitan) IPA^(key): /ˈðes.pi.na/

Noun

δέσποινα • (déspoina) f (genitive δεσποίνης); first declension

1. lady, mistress
2. princess, queen
3. owneress
   • 2022 May 18, Seumas Macdonald, chapter 2, in Linguae Graecae Per Se Illustrata‎^[1]:

     ἡ δὲ Εὐγενίᾱ δέσποινά ἐστι τῶν δουλῶν.

     hē dè Eugeníā déspoiná esti tôn doulôn.

     Eugenia is the owneress of the female slaves.

Inflection

First declension of ἡ δέσποινᾰ; τῆς δεσποίνης (Attic)

Case / #	Singular	Dual	Plural
Nominative	ἡ δέσποινᾰ hē déspoina	τὼ δεσποίνᾱ tṑ despoínā	αἱ δέσποιναι hai déspoinai
Genitive	τῆς δεσποίνης tês despoínēs	τοῖν δεσποίναιν toîn despoínain	τῶν δεσποινῶν tôn despoinôn
Dative	τῇ δεσποίνῃ têi despoínēi	τοῖν δεσποίναιν toîn despoínain	ταῖς δεσποίναις taîs despoínais
Accusative	τὴν δέσποινᾰν tḕn déspoinan	τὼ δεσποίνᾱ tṑ despoínā	τᾱ̀ς δεσποίνᾱς tā̀s despoínās
Vocative	δέσποινᾰ déspoina	δεσποίνᾱ despoínā	δέσποιναι déspoinai
Notes:	This table gives Attic inflectional endings. For declension in other dialects, see Appendix:Ancient Greek dialectal declension.

Further reading

• “δέσποινα”, in Liddell & Scott (1940) A Greek–English Lexicon, Oxford: Clarendon Press
• “δέσποινα”, in Liddell & Scott (1889) An Intermediate Greek–English Lexicon, New York: Harper & Brothers
• δέσποινα in Bailly, Anatole (1935) Le Grand Bailly: Dictionnaire grec-français, Paris: Hachette
• “δέσποινα”, in Autenrieth, Georg (1891) A Homeric Dictionary for Schools and Colleges, New York: Harper and Brothers

Greek

Alternative forms

• δεσποινίς f (despoinís) (miss, Miss)
• δεσποινίδα f (despoinída) (miss, Miss)

Etymology

Inherited from Ancient Greek δέσποινα (déspoina, “lady of the house, mistress”), from Proto-Hellenic *déspoňňa, from Proto-Indo-European *déms pótnih₂. Cognate with Avestan 𐬛𐬆𐬨𐬄𐬥𐬋.𐬞𐬀𐬚𐬥𐬍 (dəmąnō.paθnī, “mistress, housekeeper”) and Persian بانو (bânu, “lady”).

Female counterpart to δεσπότης (despótis).

Noun

δέσποινα • (déspoina) f (plural δέσποινες)

1. miss, Miss address for young, unmarried women
2. female host, hostess
3. lady
4. mistress of the home

Declension

Declension of δέσποινα

	singular	plural
nominative	δέσποινα •	δέσποινες •
genitive	δέσποινας •	—
accusative	δέσποινα •	δέσποινες •
vocative	δέσποινα •	δέσποινες •