μάτη

Ancient Greek

Etymology

According to Beekes, there is no convincing etymology, partly due to the difficulty of ascertaining the word's original meaning (which was likely not "fault"). Some theories:

• Related to Proto-Slavic *matati (“to reel, lure”), whence Polish matać (“to spool; to swindle, lie, deceive”) and Serbo-Croatian matati (“to allure, attract”). Beekes rejects this theory, perhaps due to the tenuous semantics.
• Per Meier-Brugger, from Proto-Indo-European *men- (“to have in mind”), with negative connotations. This is neither semantically convincing nor unconvincing, though the supposed dropping of the nasal *n plus general formation would have to be explained.
• Per Furnee, probably from a substrate (Pre-Greek), due to the semantic category of "stupid foolish".

Pronunciation

 

• IPA^(key): /má.tɛː/ → /ˈma.ti/ → /ˈma.ti/

• (5^th BCE Attic) IPA^(key): /má.tɛː/
• (1^st CE Egyptian) IPA^(key): /ˈma.te̝/
• (4^th CE Koine) IPA^(key): /ˈma.ti/
• (10^th CE Byzantine) IPA^(key): /ˈma.ti/
• (15^th CE Constantinopolitan) IPA^(key): /ˈma.ti/

Noun

μᾰ́τη • (mátē) f (genitive μᾰ́της); first declension

1. folly, fault

Inflection

First declension of ἡ μᾰ́τη; τῆς μᾰ́της (Attic)

Case / #	Singular	Dual	Plural
Nominative	ἡ μᾰ́τη hē mátē	τὼ μᾰ́τᾱ tṑ mátā	αἱ μᾰ́ται hai mátai
Genitive	τῆς μᾰ́της tês mátēs	τοῖν μᾰ́ταιν toîn mátain	τῶν μᾰτῶν tôn matôn
Dative	τῇ μᾰ́τῃ têi mátēi	τοῖν μᾰ́ταιν toîn mátain	ταῖς μᾰ́ταις taîs mátais
Accusative	τὴν μᾰ́την tḕn mátēn	τὼ μᾰ́τᾱ tṑ mátā	τᾱ̀ς μᾰ́τᾱς tā̀s mátās
Vocative	μᾰ́τη mátē	μᾰ́τᾱ mátā	μᾰ́ται mátai
Notes:	This table gives Attic inflectional endings. For declension in other dialects, see Appendix:Ancient Greek dialectal declension.

Derived terms

• μᾰ́ταιος (mátaios)
• μᾰ́την (mátēn)

 

Further reading

• “μάτη”, in Liddell & Scott (1940) A Greek–English Lexicon, Oxford: Clarendon Press
• “μάτη”, in Liddell & Scott (1889) An Intermediate Greek–English Lexicon, New York: Harper & Brothers
• μάτη in Bailly, Anatole (1935) Le Grand Bailly: Dictionnaire grec-français, Paris: Hachette

Tsakonian

Etymology

From Doric Greek μᾱ́τηρ (mā́tēr), from Proto-Hellenic *mā́tēr, from Proto-Indo-European *méh₂tēr. Cognate with Standard Greek μητέρα (mitéra).

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /ˈmati/

Noun

μάτη (máti) f (plural ματέρε (matére))

1. mother

Declension

Declension of μάτη

	singular	plural
nominative	μάτη (máti)	ματέρε (matére)
accusative	μάτη (máti)	ματέρε (matére)
genitive	ματερί (materí)	—