μήδεα

Ancient Greek

Pronunciation

 

• IPA^(key): /mɛ̌ː.de.a/ → /ˈmi.ðe.a/ → /ˈmi.ðe.a/

• (5^th BCE Attic) IPA^(key): /mɛ̌ː.de.a/
• (1^st CE Egyptian) IPA^(key): /ˈme̝.de.a/
• (4^th CE Koine) IPA^(key): /ˈmi.ðe.a/
• (10^th CE Byzantine) IPA^(key): /ˈmi.ðe.a/
• (15^th CE Constantinopolitan) IPA^(key): /ˈmi.ðe.a/

Etymology 1

From Proto-Hellenic *mḗdeha, from Proto-Indo-European *méh₁desh₂, from *med- (“to measure, give advice”), whence also μέδω (médō), μέδομαι (médomai). Cognates include Armenian միտ (mit).

Noun

μήδεᾰ • (mḗdea) n pl (genitive μηδέων); third declension

1. (poetic, plural only) counsel, plan, art, prudence, cunning

Inflection

Third declension of μήδεᾰ; μηδέων (Epic)

Case / #	Plural
Nominative	μήδεᾰ mḗdea
Genitive	μηδέων mēdéōn
Dative	μήδεσῐ / μήδεσῐν mḗdesi(n)
Accusative	μήδεᾰ mḗdea
Vocative	μήδεᾰ mḗdea
Notes:	Dialects other than Attic are not well attested. Some forms may be based on conjecture. Use with caution.

Derived terms

• Ἀγαμήδης (Agamḗdēs)
• Ἀριστομήδης (Aristomḗdēs)
• Ἀρχιμήδης (Arkhimḗdēs)
• Γανυμήδης (Ganumḗdēs)
• Διομήδης (Diomḗdēs)
• Ἑκαμήδη (Hekamḗdē)
• Θρασυμήδης (Thrasumḗdēs)
• Κλεομήδης (Kleomḗdēs)
• Λυκομήδης (Lukomḗdēs)
• Μήδειᾰ (Mḗdeia)
• -μήδης (-mḗdēs)
• μήδομαι (mḗdomai)
• Νικομήδης (Nikomḗdēs)
• Παλαμήδης (Palamḗdēs)
• Περιμήδη (Perimḗdē)

 

Etymology 2

Uncertain. Has been connected with etymology 1 (compare Old High German gimaht for a similar double meaning), Latin mentula, and with μαδάω (madáō) and Middle Irish mess. Could also be Pre-Greek.

Alternative forms

• μέζεᾰ (mézea)

Noun

μήδεᾰ • (mḗdea) n pl (genitive μηδέων); third declension

1. (Epic, plural only) male genitals

Inflection

Third declension of μήδεᾰ; μηδέων (Epic)

Case / #	Plural
Nominative	μήδεᾰ mḗdea
Genitive	μηδέων mēdéōn
Dative	μήδεσῐ / μήδεσῐν mḗdesi(n)
Accusative	μήδεᾰ mḗdea
Vocative	μήδεᾰ mḗdea
Notes:	Dialects other than Attic are not well attested. Some forms may be based on conjecture. Use with caution.

Further reading

• “μῆδος”, in Liddell & Scott (1940) A Greek–English Lexicon, Oxford: Clarendon Press
• “μῆδος”, in Liddell & Scott (1889) An Intermediate Greek–English Lexicon, New York: Harper & Brothers
• “μῆδος”, in Autenrieth, Georg (1891) A Homeric Dictionary for Schools and Colleges, New York: Harper and Brothers
• μήδεα in Bailly, Anatole (1935) Le Grand Bailly: Dictionnaire grec-français, Paris: Hachette
• “μῆδος”, in Slater, William J. (1969) Lexicon to Pindar, Berlin: Walter de Gruyter
• Beekes, Robert S. P. (2010) Etymological Dictionary of Greek (Leiden Indo-European Etymological Dictionary Series; 10), with the assistance of Lucien van Beek, Leiden, Boston: Brill, →ISBN