σφῦρα

Ancient Greek

Etymology

Julius Pokorny connects this word with σπαίρω (spaírō, “to hammer, to make rapid movements”). Frisk connects this word with σφαῖρα (sphaîra, “ball”), but this seems far-fetched, especially since the semantic connection is not evident. The etymology thus remains uncertain.

Pronunciation

(5^th BCE Attic) IPA^(key): /spʰŷː.ra/
(1^st CE Egyptian) IPA^(key): /ˈspʰy.ra/
(4^th CE Koine) IPA^(key): /ˈsɸy.ra/
(10^th CE Byzantine) IPA^(key): /ˈsfy.ra/
(15^th CE Constantinopolitan) IPA^(key): /ˈsfi.ra/

Noun

σφῦρᾰ • (sphûra) f (genitive σφῡ́ρᾱς); first declension

hammer, beetle, mallet
Synonym: κέστρα (késtra)
balk between the furrows of ploughed land
kind of land measure

Inflection

First declension of ἡ σφῦρᾰ; τῆς σφῡ́ρᾱς (Attic)

Case / #	Singular	Dual	Plural
Nominative	ἡ σφῦρᾰ hē sphûra	τὼ σφῡ́ρᾱ tṑ sphū́rā	αἱ σφῦραι hai sphûrai
Genitive	τῆς σφῡ́ρᾱς tês sphū́rās	τοῖν σφῡ́ραιν toîn sphū́rain	τῶν σφῡρῶν tôn sphūrôn
Dative	τῇ σφῡ́ρᾳ têi sphū́rāi	τοῖν σφῡ́ραιν toîn sphū́rain	ταῖς σφῡ́ραις taîs sphū́rais
Accusative	τὴν σφῦρᾰν tḕn sphûran	τὼ σφῡ́ρᾱ tṑ sphū́rā	τᾱ̀ς σφῡ́ρᾱς tā̀s sphū́rās
Vocative	σφῦρᾰ sphûra	σφῡ́ρᾱ sphū́rā	σφῦραι sphûrai
Notes:	This table gives Attic inflectional endings. For declension in other dialects, see Appendix:Ancient Greek dialectal declension.

Derived terms

σφῡ́ραινᾰ (sphū́raina)
σφῡρηδόν (sphūrēdón)
σφῡρηλᾰτέω (sphūrēlatéō)
σφῡρήλατος (sphūrḗlatos)
σφῡρῐ́ον (sphūríon)
σφῡρόβολος (sphūróbolos)
σφῡρόκοπος (sphūrókopos)
σφῡροκτῠπέω (sphūroktupéō)
σφῡροπέλεκῠς (sphūropélekus)
σφῡ́ρωσῐς (sphū́rōsis)

Descendants

Greek: σφυρί (sfyrí)
Mariupol Greek: сфири́ (sfirí)

“σφῦρα”, in Liddell & Scott (1940) A Greek–English Lexicon, Oxford: Clarendon Press
“σφῦρα”, in Liddell & Scott (1889) An Intermediate Greek–English Lexicon, New York: Harper & Brothers
“σφῦρα”, in Autenrieth, Georg (1891) A Homeric Dictionary for Schools and Colleges, New York: Harper and Brothers
σφῦρα in Bailly, Anatole (1935) Le Grand Bailly: Dictionnaire grec-français, Paris: Hachette
σφῦρα in Cunliffe, Richard J. (1924) A Lexicon of the Homeric Dialect: Expanded Edition, Norman: University of Oklahoma Press, published 1963
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