ἀλαζών

Ancient Greek

Etymology

It matches Thracian Ἀλαζών (Ἀlazón) exactly, perhaps an appellative,^[1] or it may be a cultural loanword from Akkadian 𒀀𒇻𒍣𒉡 aluzinnu, 'boastful, clownish fraud, most times pretending or claiming to possess medical skills or knowledge.' From Sumerian 𒀩𒍪 alanzu, 'clown.' ^[2]

Pronunciation

(5^th BCE Attic) IPA^(key): /a.laːz.dɔ̌ːn/
(1^st CE Egyptian) IPA^(key): /a.laˈzon/
(4^th CE Koine) IPA^(key): /a.laˈzon/
(10^th CE Byzantine) IPA^(key): /a.laˈzon/
(15^th CE Constantinopolitan) IPA^(key): /a.laˈzon/

Noun

ᾰ̓λᾱζών • (alāzṓn) m or f (genitive ᾰ̓λᾱζόνος); third declension

wanderer around the country, vagrant
(particularly of Sophists) charlatan, quack
- 519 BCE – 422 BCE, Cratinus, Collected Works 380
- 423 BCE, Aristophanes, The Clouds 102
- 428 BCE – 347 BCE, Plato, Charmides 173c
braggart, boaster
- 430 BCE – 354 BCE, Xenophon, Cyropaedia 2.2.12
- 384 BCE – 322 BCE, Aristotle, Nicomachean Ethics 4.1127a.21

Inflection

Third declension of ὁ, ἡ ᾰ̓λᾱζών; τοῦ, τῆς ᾰ̓λᾱζόνος (Attic)

Case / #	Singular	Dual	Plural
Nominative	ὁ, ἡ ᾰ̓λᾱζών ho, hē alāzṓn	τὼ ᾰ̓λᾱζόνε tṑ alāzóne	οἱ, αἱ ᾰ̓λᾱζόνες hoi, hai alāzónes
Genitive	τοῦ, τῆς ᾰ̓λᾱζόνος toû, tês alāzónos	τοῖν ᾰ̓λᾱζόνοιν toîn alāzónoin	τῶν ᾰ̓λᾱζόνων tôn alāzónōn
Dative	τῷ, τῇ ᾰ̓λᾱζόνῐ tôi, têi alāzóni	τοῖν ᾰ̓λᾱζόνοιν toîn alāzónoin	τοῖς, ταῖς ᾰ̓λᾱζόσῐ / ᾰ̓λᾱζόσῐν toîs, taîs alāzósi(n)
Accusative	τὸν, τὴν ᾰ̓λᾱζόνᾰ tòn, tḕn alāzóna	τὼ ᾰ̓λᾱζόνε tṑ alāzóne	τοὺς, τᾱ̀ς ᾰ̓λᾱζόνᾰς toùs, tā̀s alāzónas
Vocative	ᾰ̓λᾱζών alāzṓn	ᾰ̓λᾱζόνε alāzóne	ᾰ̓λᾱζόνες alāzónes
Notes:	This table gives Attic inflectional endings. For declension in other dialects, see Appendix:Ancient Greek dialectal declension.

Adjective

ᾰ̓λᾱζών • (alāzṓn) m or f (neuter ᾰ̓λᾱζών); third declension

boastful, pretentious

Inflection

Third declension of ᾰ̓λᾱζών; ᾰ̓λᾱζόν (Attic)

Number	Singular		Dual		Plural
Case/Gender	Masculine / Feminine	Neuter	Masculine / Feminine	Neuter	Masculine / Feminine	Neuter
Nominative	ᾰ̓λᾱζών alāzṓn	ᾰ̓λᾱζόν alāzón	ᾰ̓λᾱζόνε alāzóne	ᾰ̓λᾱζόνε alāzóne	ᾰ̓λᾱζόνες alāzónes	ᾰ̓λᾱζόνᾰ alāzóna
Genitive	ᾰ̓λᾱζόνος alāzónos	ᾰ̓λᾱζόνος alāzónos	ᾰ̓λᾱζόνοιν alāzónoin	ᾰ̓λᾱζόνοιν alāzónoin	ᾰ̓λᾱζόνων alāzónōn	ᾰ̓λᾱζόνων alāzónōn
Dative	ᾰ̓λᾱζόνῐ alāzóni	ᾰ̓λᾱζόνῐ alāzóni	ᾰ̓λᾱζόνοιν alāzónoin	ᾰ̓λᾱζόνοιν alāzónoin	ᾰ̓λᾱζόσῐ / ᾰ̓λᾱζόσῐν alāzósi(n)	ᾰ̓λᾱζόσῐ / ᾰ̓λᾱζόσῐν alāzósi(n)
Accusative	ᾰ̓λᾱζόνᾰ alāzóna	ᾰ̓λᾱζόν alāzón	ᾰ̓λᾱζόνε alāzóne	ᾰ̓λᾱζόνε alāzóne	ᾰ̓λᾱζόνᾰς alāzónas	ᾰ̓λᾱζόνᾰ alāzóna
Vocative	ᾰ̓λᾱζών alāzṓn	ᾰ̓λᾱζόν alāzón	ᾰ̓λᾱζόνε alāzóne	ᾰ̓λᾱζόνε alāzóne	ᾰ̓λᾱζόνες alāzónes	ᾰ̓λᾱζόνᾰ alāzóna
Derived forms	Adverb		Comparative		Superlative
Derived forms	ᾰ̓λᾱζόνως alāzónōs		ᾰ̓λᾱζονέστερος alāzonésteros		ᾰ̓λᾱζονέστᾰτος alāzonéstatos
Notes:	This table gives Attic inflectional endings. For declension in other dialects, see Appendix:Ancient Greek dialectal declension.

Descendants

Old Latin: alāzōn

References

“ἀλαζών”, in Liddell & Scott (1940) A Greek–English Lexicon, Oxford: Clarendon Press
“ἀλαζών”, in Liddell & Scott (1889) An Intermediate Greek–English Lexicon, New York: Harper & Brothers
ἀλαζών in Bailly, Anatole (1935) Le Grand Bailly: Dictionnaire grec-français, Paris: Hachette
ἀλαζών in the Diccionario Griego–Español en línea (2006–2024)
G213 in Strong, James (1979) Strong’s Exhaustive Concordance to the Bible

^ Beekes, Robert S. P. (2010) “ἀλαζών”, in Etymological Dictionary of Greek (Leiden Indo-European Etymological Dictionary Series; 10), volume I, with the assistance of Lucien van Beek, Leiden, Boston: Brill, →ISBN, page 60
^ Rumor, Maddalena "Aluzinnu Versus ἀλαζών: On the Use of Medical Terminology in the Babylonian and Greek Comic Traditions." In AOAT 436 (2016): 587–603.

[1] Beekes, Robert S. P. (2010) “ἀλαζών”, in Etymological Dictionary of Greek (Leiden Indo-European Etymological Dictionary Series; 10), volume I, with the assistance of Lucien van Beek, Leiden, Boston: Brill, →ISBN, page 60

[2] Rumor, Maddalena "Aluzinnu Versus ἀλαζών: On the Use of Medical Terminology in the Babylonian and Greek Comic Traditions." In AOAT 436 (2016): 587–603.

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