κεφαλή

Ancient Greek

Etymology

From Proto-Hellenic *kʰepʰəlā́, from Proto-Indo-European *gʰebʰ-l̥ (“head”) +‎ *-éh₂ (“nominal suffix”). Compare κεβλή (keblḗ). False cognate of Sanskrit कपाल (kapāla).

Pronunciation

 

• IPA^(key): /ke.pʰa.lɛ̌ː/ → /ce.ɸaˈli/ → /ce.faˈli/

• (5^th BCE Attic) IPA^(key): /ke.pʰa.lɛ̌ː/
• (1^st CE Egyptian) IPA^(key): /ke.pʰaˈle̝/
• (4^th CE Koine) IPA^(key): /ce.ɸaˈli/
• (10^th CE Byzantine) IPA^(key): /ce.faˈli/
• (15^th CE Constantinopolitan) IPA^(key): /ce.faˈli/

Noun

κεφᾰλή • (kephalḗ) f (genitive κεφᾰλῆς); first declension

1. head
2. a person's life (often in the sense of being in danger, similar to the English idiom "head is on the line").
3. the topmost part
4. the most important part
5. (Byzantine) a provincial governor

Declension

First declension of ἡ κεφᾰλή; τῆς κεφᾰλῆς (Attic)

Case / #	Singular	Dual	Plural
Nominative	ἡ κεφᾰλή hē kephalḗ	τὼ κεφᾰλᾱ́ tṑ kephalā́	αἱ κεφᾰλαί hai kephalaí
Genitive	τῆς κεφᾰλῆς tês kephalês	τοῖν κεφᾰλαῖν toîn kephalaîn	τῶν κεφᾰλῶν tôn kephalôn
Dative	τῇ κεφᾰλῇ têi kephalêi	τοῖν κεφᾰλαῖν toîn kephalaîn	ταῖς κεφᾰλαῖς taîs kephalaîs
Accusative	τὴν κεφᾰλήν tḕn kephalḗn	τὼ κεφᾰλᾱ́ tṑ kephalā́	τᾱ̀ς κεφᾰλᾱ́ς tā̀s kephalā́s
Vocative	κεφᾰλή kephalḗ	κεφᾰλᾱ́ kephalā́	κεφᾰλαί kephalaí
Notes:	This table gives Attic inflectional endings. For declension in other dialects, see Appendix:Ancient Greek dialectal declension.

Derived terms

• ἀκέφαλος (aképhalos)
• ἀμφικέφαλος (amphiképhalos)
• ἀποκεφαλίζω (apokephalízō)
• κεφαλῖνος (kephalînos)
• κεφάλιον (kephálion)

 

Descendants

• → Coptic: ⲕⲉⲫⲁⲗⲏ (kephalē)
• → English: cephalo-
• Greek: κεφαλή (kefalí)

Further reading

• “κεφαλή”, in Liddell & Scott (1940) A Greek–English Lexicon, Oxford: Clarendon Press
• “κεφαλή”, in Liddell & Scott (1889) An Intermediate Greek–English Lexicon, New York: Harper & Brothers
• “κεφαλή”, in Autenrieth, Georg (1891) A Homeric Dictionary for Schools and Colleges, New York: Harper and Brothers
• κεφαλή in Bailly, Anatole (1935) Le Grand Bailly: Dictionnaire grec-français, Paris: Hachette
• Bauer, Walter et al. (2001) A Greek–English Lexicon of the New Testament and Other Early Christian Literature, Third edition, Chicago: University of Chicago Press
• κεφαλή in Cunliffe, Richard J. (1924) A Lexicon of the Homeric Dialect: Expanded Edition, Norman: University of Oklahoma Press, published 1963
• G2776 in Strong, James (1979) Strong’s Exhaustive Concordance to the Bible
• κεφαλή in Trapp, Erich, et al. (1994–2007) Lexikon zur byzantinischen Gräzität besonders des 9.-12. Jahrhunderts [the Lexicon of Byzantine Hellenism, Particularly the 9th–12th Centuries], Verlag der Österreichischen Akademie der Wissenschaften
• Woodhouse, S. C. (1910) English–Greek Dictionary: A Vocabulary of the Attic Language‎^[1], London: Routledge & Kegan Paul Limited.
  • head idem, page 389.

Greek

Etymology

Learned borrowing from Ancient Greek κεφαλή (kephalḗ). Doublet of κεφάλι (kefáli), inherited from a diminutive form.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /ce.faˈli/
• Hyphenation: κε‧φα‧λή

Noun

κεφαλή • (kefalí) f (plural κεφαλές)

1. (formal) Synonym of κεφάλι (kefáli)

Declension

Declension of κεφαλή

	singular	plural
nominative	κεφαλή •	κεφαλές •
genitive	κεφαλής •	κεφαλών •
accusative	κεφαλή •	κεφαλές •
vocative	κεφαλή •	κεφαλές •

Further reading

• κεφαλή, in Λεξικό της κοινής νεοελληνικής [Dictionary of Standard Modern Greek], Triantafyllidis Foundation, 1998 at the Centre for the Greek language