χθών

See also: Χθών

Ancient Greek

Etymology

From Proto-Hellenic *kʰtʰṓn, full transference to n-stem (cf. εἷς (heîs), χῐών (khĭṓn)), from Proto-Indo-European *dʰéǵʰōm, with the Proto-Indo-European cluster *dʰǵʰ- metathesizing into Proto-Greek *kʰtʰ- from an earlier Proto-Hellenic *tʰkʰṓn, since Greek stop clusters must always end in a dental. Cognates include Sanskrit क्ष (kṣa) and Latin humus.

Pronunciation

 

• IPA^(key): /kʰtʰɔ̌ːn/ → /xθon/ → /xθon/

• (5^th BCE Attic) IPA^(key): /kʰtʰɔ̌ːn/
• (1^st CE Egyptian) IPA^(key): /kʰtʰon/
• (4^th CE Koine) IPA^(key): /xθon/
• (10^th CE Byzantine) IPA^(key): /xθon/
• (15^th CE Constantinopolitan) IPA^(key): /xθon/

Noun

χθών • (khthṓn) f (genitive χθονός); third declension

1. ground, soil, surface of the earth
2. earth, world
3. land, country

Inflection

Third declension of ἡ χθών; τῆς χθονός (Attic)

Case / #	Singular	Dual	Plural
Nominative	ἡ χθών hē khthṓn	τὼ χθόνε tṑ khthóne	αἱ χθόνες hai khthónes
Genitive	τῆς χθονός tês khthonós	τοῖν χθονοῖν toîn khthonoîn	τῶν χθονῶν tôn khthonôn
Dative	τῇ χθονῐ́ têi khthonĭ́	τοῖν χθονοῖν toîn khthonoîn	ταῖς χθοσῐ́ / χθοσῐ́ν taîs khthosĭ́(n)
Accusative	τὴν χθόνᾰ tḕn khthónă	τὼ χθόνε tṑ khthóne	τᾱ̀ς χθόνᾰς tā̀s khthónăs
Vocative	χθών khthṓn	χθόνε khthóne	χθόνες khthónes
Notes:	This table gives Attic inflectional endings. For declension in other dialects, see Appendix:Ancient Greek dialectal declension.

Derived terms

• αὐτόχθων (autókhthōn)
• ἐνοσίχθων (enosíkhthōn)
• χθόνιος (khthónios)
• χθονοστιβής (khthonostibḗs)
• Χθωνία (Khthōnía)

Related terms

• χαμάδις (khamádis)
• χαμᾶζε (khamâze)
• χαμᾶθεν (khamâthen)
• χαμαί (khamaí)
• χαμαιευνάς (khamaieunás)
• χαμαιεύνης (khamaieúnēs)
• χαμαίζηλος (khamaízēlos)
• χαμαῖθεν (khamaîthen)
• χαμαικοίτης (khamaikoítēs)
• χαμόθεν (khamóthen)
• χθαμαλός (khthamalós)

Further reading

• “χθών”, in Liddell & Scott (1940) A Greek–English Lexicon, Oxford: Clarendon Press
• “χθών”, in Liddell & Scott (1889) An Intermediate Greek–English Lexicon, New York: Harper & Brothers
• “χθών”, in Autenrieth, Georg (1891) A Homeric Dictionary for Schools and Colleges, New York: Harper and Brothers
• χθών in Bailly, Anatole (1935) Le Grand Bailly: Dictionnaire grec-français, Paris: Hachette
• χθών in Cunliffe, Richard J. (1924) A Lexicon of the Homeric Dialect: Expanded Edition, Norman: University of Oklahoma Press, published 1963
• “χθών”, in Slater, William J. (1969) Lexicon to Pindar, Berlin: Walter de Gruyter
• Woodhouse, S. C. (1910) English–Greek Dictionary: A Vocabulary of the Attic Language‎^[1], London: Routledge & Kegan Paul Limited.
  • asia idem, page 44.
  • country idem, page 178.
  • domain idem, page 246.
  • earth idem, page 259.
  • gaea (earth regarded as a goddess) idem, page 351.
  • ground idem, page 375.
  • land idem, page 475.
  • soil idem, page 791.
  • sparta idem, page 798.
  • troy idem, page 898.
• χθών, in ΛΟΓΕΙΟΝ [Logeion] Dictionaries for Ancient Greek and Latin (in English, French, Spanish, German, Dutch and Chinese), University of Chicago, since 2011