θέμις

See also: Θέμις

Ancient Greek

Etymology

From the stem of τίθημι (títhēmi, “to place”), from Proto-Indo-European *dʰeh₁-, possibly combined with the stem of ἵστημι (hístēmi, “to stand”), from Proto-Indo-European *steh₂-. Beekes prefers to consider it of Pre-Greek origin, but this is dismissed by Beckwith, Nikolaev, and others.

Pronunciation

 

• IPA^(key): /tʰé.mis/ → /ˈθe.mis/ → /ˈθe.mis/

• (5^th BCE Attic) IPA^(key): /tʰé.mis/
• (1^st CE Egyptian) IPA^(key): /ˈtʰe.mis/
• (4^th CE Koine) IPA^(key): /ˈθe.mis/
• (10^th CE Byzantine) IPA^(key): /ˈθe.mis/
• (15^th CE Constantinopolitan) IPA^(key): /ˈθe.mis/

Noun

θέμῐς • (thémis) f (genitive θέμιστος or θέμῐδος or θέμῐτος or θέμῐος); third declension

1. old, established law or custom
2. divinely ordained justice

Declension

Third declension of ἡ θέμῐς; τῆς θέμῐστος (Attic)

Case / #	Singular	Dual	Plural
Nominative	ἡ θέμῐς hē thémis	τὼ θέμῐστε tṑ thémiste	αἱ θέμῐστες hai thémistes
Genitive	τῆς θέμῐστος tês thémistos	τοῖν θεμῐ́στοιν toîn themístoin	τῶν θεμιστέων tôn themistéōn
Dative	τῇ θέμῐστῐ têi thémisti	τοῖν θεμῐ́στοιν toîn themístoin	ταῖς θέμῐσσῐ / θέμῐσσῐν taîs thémissi(n)
Accusative	τὴν θέμῐστᾰ tḕn thémista	τὼ θέμῐστε tṑ thémiste	τᾱ̀ς θέμῐστᾰς tā̀s thémistas
Vocative	θέμῐς thémis	θέμῐστε thémiste	θέμῐστες thémistes
Notes:	This table gives Attic inflectional endings. For declension in other dialects, see Appendix:Ancient Greek dialectal declension. Nominative singular -ς (-s) arose by reduction of the original cluster *-ts.

Third declension of ἡ θέμῐς; τῆς θέμῐδος (Attic)

Case / #	Singular	Dual	Plural
Nominative	ἡ θέμῐς hē thémis	τὼ θέμῐδε tṑ thémide	αἱ θέμῐδες hai thémides
Genitive	τῆς θέμῐδος tês thémidos	τοῖν θεμῐ́δοιν toîn themídoin	τῶν θεμῐ́δων tôn themídōn
Dative	τῇ θέμῐδῐ têi thémidi	τοῖν θεμῐ́δοιν toîn themídoin	ταῖς θέμῐσῐ / θέμῐσῐν taîs thémisi(n)
Accusative	τὴν θέμῐδᾰ tḕn thémida	τὼ θέμῐδε tṑ thémide	τᾱ̀ς θέμῐδᾰς tā̀s thémidas
Vocative	θέμῐς thémis	θέμῐδε thémide	θέμῐδες thémides
Notes:	This table gives Attic inflectional endings. For declension in other dialects, see Appendix:Ancient Greek dialectal declension. Nominative singular -ς (-s) arose by reduction of the original cluster *-ds.

Third declension of ἡ θέμῐς; τῆς θέμῐτος (Attic)

Case / #	Singular	Dual	Plural
Nominative	ἡ θέμῐς hē thémis	τὼ θέμῐτε tṑ thémite	αἱ θέμῐτες hai thémites
Genitive	τῆς θέμῐτος tês thémitos	τοῖν θεμῐ́τοιν toîn themítoin	τῶν θεμῐ́των tôn themítōn
Dative	τῇ θέμῐτῐ têi thémiti	τοῖν θεμῐ́τοιν toîn themítoin	ταῖς θέμῐσῐ / θέμῐσῐν taîs thémisi(n)
Accusative	τὴν θέμῐτᾰ tḕn thémita	τὼ θέμῐτε tṑ thémite	τᾱ̀ς θέμῐτᾰς tā̀s thémitas
Vocative	θέμῐς thémis	θέμῐτε thémite	θέμῐτες thémites
Notes:	This table gives Attic inflectional endings. For declension in other dialects, see Appendix:Ancient Greek dialectal declension. Nominative singular -ς (-s) arose by reduction of the original cluster *-ts.

Third declension of ἡ θέμῐς; τῆς θέμῐος (Attic)

Case / #	Singular	Dual	Plural
Nominative	ἡ θέμῐς hē thémis	τὼ θέμῐε tṑ thémie	αἱ θέμῐες hai thémies
Genitive	τῆς θέμῐος tês thémios	τοῖν θεμῐ́οιν toîn themíoin	τῶν θεμῐ́ων tôn themíōn
Dative	τῇ θέμῑ têi thémī	τοῖν θεμῐ́οιν toîn themíoin	ταῖς θέμῐσῐ / θέμῐσῐν taîs thémisi(n)
Accusative	τὴν θέμῐν tḕn thémin	τὼ θέμῐε tṑ thémie	τᾱ̀ς θέμῑς / θέμῐᾰς tā̀s thémīs / thémias
Vocative	θέμῐ thémi	θέμῐε thémie	θέμῐες thémies
Notes:	This table gives Attic inflectional endings. For declension in other dialects, see Appendix:Ancient Greek dialectal declension.

Derived terms

• Θέμις (Thémis)

Further reading

• “θέμις”, in Autenrieth, Georg (1891) A Homeric Dictionary for Schools and Colleges, New York: Harper and Brothers
• θέμις in Cunliffe, Richard J. (1924) A Lexicon of the Homeric Dialect: Expanded Edition, Norman: University of Oklahoma Press, published 1963
• “θέμις”, in Liddell & Scott (1940) A Greek–English Lexicon, Oxford: Clarendon Press
• Woodhouse, S. C. (1910) English–Greek Dictionary: A Vocabulary of the Attic Language‎^[1], London: Routledge & Kegan Paul Limited.
  • incumbent idem, page 431.
  • justice idem, page 466.
  • lawful idem, page 480.
  • right idem, page 714.
  • themis idem, page 865.