πελεκάν

Ancient Greek

Etymology

Derived from πέλεκυς (pélekus, “axe”), because of the functional and/or formal similarity with an axe. Compare similar bird names, like πελεκανός (pelekanós, “coot”), πελεκᾶς (pelekâs, “woodpecker”) and πελεκῖνος (pelekînos, “pelican”). Furnée compares σπέλεκτος (spélektos, “pelican”), suggesting a Pre-Greek etymology.

Pronunciation

 

• IPA^(key): /pe.le.kán/ → /pe.leˈkan/ → /pe.leˈkan/

• (5^th BCE Attic) IPA^(key): /pe.le.kán/
• (1^st CE Egyptian) IPA^(key): /pe.leˈkan/
• (4^th CE Koine) IPA^(key): /pe.leˈkan/
• (10^th CE Byzantine) IPA^(key): /pe.leˈkan/
• (15^th CE Constantinopolitan) IPA^(key): /pe.leˈkan/

Noun

πελεκᾰ́ν • (pelekán) m (genitive πελεκᾶνος); third declension

1. pelican (Pelecanus onocrotalus)

   Synonyms: ὀνοκρότᾰλος (onokrótalos), πελεκῖνος (pelekînos)

Declension

Third declension of ὁ πελεκᾰ́ν; τοῦ πελεκᾶνος (Attic)

Case / #	Singular	Dual	Plural
Nominative	ὁ πελεκᾰ́ν ho pelekán	τὼ πελεκᾶνε tṑ pelekâne	οἱ πελεκᾶνες hoi pelekânes
Genitive	τοῦ πελεκᾶνος toû pelekânos	τοῖν πελεκᾱ́νοιν toîn pelekā́noin	τῶν πελεκᾱ́νων tôn pelekā́nōn
Dative	τῷ πελεκᾶνῐ tôi pelekâni	τοῖν πελεκᾱ́νοιν toîn pelekā́noin	τοῖς πελεκᾶσῐ / πελεκᾶσῐν toîs pelekâsi(n)
Accusative	τὸν πελεκᾶνᾰ tòn pelekâna	τὼ πελεκᾶνε tṑ pelekâne	τοὺς πελεκᾶνᾰς toùs pelekânas
Vocative	πελεκᾰ́ν pelekán	πελεκᾶνε pelekâne	πελεκᾶνες pelekânes
Notes:	This table gives Attic inflectional endings. For declension in other dialects, see Appendix:Ancient Greek dialectal declension.

Descendants

• → Latin: pelecānus (see there for further descendants)
• → Old Armenian: պեղական (pełakan)

Further reading

• “πελεκάν”, in Liddell & Scott (1940) A Greek–English Lexicon, Oxford: Clarendon Press
• πελεκάν in Bailly, Anatole (1935) Le Grand Bailly: Dictionnaire grec-français, Paris: Hachette
• 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