τήθυον

Ancient Greek

Alternative forms

• τήθεον (tḗtheon)

Etymology

Kalén assumes earlier *θή-θυον (*thḗ-thuon) and connects the word with θῆσθαι (thêsthai) (which is from the root of θάω (tháō, “to suck”)) and with θύλακος (thúlakos, “sack”). This explanation is nonsensical and typical of older Greek etymologies. According to Beekes, it is more probably a Pre-Greek word, given the variation υ/ε.

Pronunciation

 

• IPA^(key): /tɛ̌ː.tʰy.on/ → /ˈti.θy.on/ → /ˈti.θi.on/

• (5^th BCE Attic) IPA^(key): /tɛ̌ː.tʰy.on/
• (1^st CE Egyptian) IPA^(key): /ˈte̝.tʰy.on/
• (4^th CE Koine) IPA^(key): /ˈti.θy.on/
• (10^th CE Byzantine) IPA^(key): /ˈti.θy.on/
• (15^th CE Constantinopolitan) IPA^(key): /ˈti.θi.on/

Noun

τήθῠον • (tḗthuon) n (genitive τηθῠ́ου); second declension

1. sea squirt (tunicate of the class Ascidiacea)

Inflection

Second declension of τὸ τήθῠον; τοῦ τηθῠ́ου (Attic)

Case / #	Singular	Dual	Plural
Nominative	τὸ τήθῠον tò tḗthuon	τὼ τηθῠ́ω tṑ tēthúō	τᾰ̀ τήθῠᾰ tà tḗthua
Genitive	τοῦ τηθῠ́ου toû tēthúou	τοῖν τηθῠ́οιν toîn tēthúoin	τῶν τηθῠ́ων tôn tēthúōn
Dative	τῷ τηθῠ́ῳ tôi tēthúōi	τοῖν τηθῠ́οιν toîn tēthúoin	τοῖς τηθῠ́οις toîs tēthúois
Accusative	τὸ τήθῠον tò tḗthuon	τὼ τηθῠ́ω tṑ tēthúō	τᾰ̀ τήθῠᾰ tà tḗthua
Vocative	τήθῠον tḗthuon	τηθῠ́ω tēthúō	τήθῠᾰ tḗthua
Notes:	This table gives Attic inflectional endings. For declension in other dialects, see Appendix:Ancient Greek dialectal declension.

Descendants

• → Translingual: Tethya

Further reading

• “τήθυον”, in Liddell & Scott (1940) A Greek–English Lexicon, Oxford: Clarendon Press
• τήθυον 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