σκιαμαχία

Ancient Greek

FWOTD – 13 July 2024

Alternative forms

• σκῐομᾰχῐ́ᾱ (skiomakhíā) — later
  • 129 CE – 216 CE, Galen, Collected Works 6.146

Etymology

From σκῐᾱ́ (skiā́, “shadow”) +‎ μᾰ́χη (mákhē, “battle, combat”) +‎ -ῐ́ᾱ (-íā)

Pronunciation

 

• IPA^(key): /ski.aː.ma.kʰí.aː/ → /sci.a.maˈçi.a/ → /sci.a.maˈçi.a/

• (5^th BCE Attic) IPA^(key): /ski.aː.ma.kʰí.aː/
• (1^st CE Egyptian) IPA^(key): /ski.a.maˈkʰi.a/
• (4^th CE Koine) IPA^(key): /sci.a.maˈçi.a/
• (10^th CE Byzantine) IPA^(key): /sci.a.maˈçi.a/
• (15^th CE Constantinopolitan) IPA^(key): /sci.a.maˈçi.a/

Noun

σκῐᾱμᾰχῐ́ᾱ • (skiāmakhíā) f (genitive σκῐᾱμᾰχῐ́ᾱς); first declension

1. a fighting against a shadow: esp. a form of exercise with hands and feet
   • 280 BCE – 220 BCE, Philo of Byzantium, Compendium of Mechanics 1.153
2. (figurative) fighting with a shadow, mock fight, beating the air
   • 106 BCE – 43 BCE, Cicero, Fam. 11.14.1
   • 46 CE – 120 CE, Plutarch, Moralia 2.514d
   • 1115 – 1195, Eustathius of Thessalonica, Collected Works 663.16

Declension

First declension of ἡ σκῐᾱμᾰχῐ́ᾱ; τῆς σκῐᾱμᾰχῐ́ᾱς (Attic)

Case / #	Singular	Dual	Plural
Nominative	ἡ σκῐᾱμᾰχῐ́ᾱ hē skiāmakhíā	τὼ σκῐᾱμᾰχῐ́ᾱ tṑ skiāmakhíā	αἱ σκῐᾱμᾰχῐ́αι hai skiāmakhíai
Genitive	τῆς σκῐᾱμᾰχῐ́ᾱς tês skiāmakhíās	τοῖν σκῐᾱμᾰχῐ́αιν toîn skiāmakhíain	τῶν σκῐᾱμᾰχῐῶν tôn skiāmakhiôn
Dative	τῇ σκῐᾱμᾰχῐ́ᾳ têi skiāmakhíāi	τοῖν σκῐᾱμᾰχῐ́αιν toîn skiāmakhíain	ταῖς σκῐᾱμᾰχῐ́αις taîs skiāmakhíais
Accusative	τὴν σκῐᾱμᾰχῐ́ᾱν tḕn skiāmakhíān	τὼ σκῐᾱμᾰχῐ́ᾱ tṑ skiāmakhíā	τᾱ̀ς σκῐᾱμᾰχῐ́ᾱς tā̀s skiāmakhíās
Vocative	σκῐᾱμᾰχῐ́ᾱ skiāmakhíā	σκῐᾱμᾰχῐ́ᾱ skiāmakhíā	σκῐᾱμᾰχῐ́αι skiāmakhíai
Notes:	This table gives Attic inflectional endings. For declension in other dialects, see Appendix:Ancient Greek dialectal declension.

Descendants

• → Late Latin: sciāmachia
  • English: sciamachy

References

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