ἀλόη

See also: αλόη and ἀλωή

Ancient Greek

ἀλόη illustration in the Vienna Dioscurides

Etymology

First attested in the 1st century CE, so apparently acquired via Aramaic, attested in like meaning in Classical Syriac ܥܠܘܝ (ʕalway, ʕelway), Christian Palestinian Aramaic ܥܠܘܐ, ܥܠܘܝܬܐ, Classical Mandaic ࡏࡋࡅࡀࡉࡀ (ʕluaia), ࡀࡋࡅࡀࡉ (ʔluai), from Old Tamil 𑀅𑀓𑀺𑀮𑁰 (akil); compare அகில் (akil, “agarwood”).

Pronunciation

 

• IPA^(key): /a.ló.ɛː/ → /aˈlo.i/ → /aˈlo.i/

• (5^th BCE Attic) IPA^(key): /a.ló.ɛː/
• (1^st CE Egyptian) IPA^(key): /aˈlo.e̝/
• (4^th CE Koine) IPA^(key): /aˈlo.i/
• (10^th CE Byzantine) IPA^(key): /aˈlo.i/
• (15^th CE Constantinopolitan) IPA^(key): /aˈlo.i/

Noun

ἀλόη • (alóē) f (genitive ἀλόης); first declension

1. aloe (Aloe vera)

Inflection

First declension of ἡ ἀλόη; τῆς ἀλόης (Attic)

Case / #	Singular	Dual	Plural
Nominative	ἡ ἀλόη hē alóē	τὼ ἀλόᾱ tṑ alóā	αἱ ἀλόαι hai alóai
Genitive	τῆς ἀλόης tês alóēs	τοῖν ἀλόαιν toîn alóain	τῶν ἀλοῶν tôn aloôn
Dative	τῇ ἀλόῃ têi alóēi	τοῖν ἀλόαιν toîn alóain	ταῖς ἀλόαις taîs alóais
Accusative	τὴν ἀλόην tḕn alóēn	τὼ ἀλόᾱ tṑ alóā	τᾱ̀ς ἀλόᾱς tā̀s alóās
Vocative	ἀλόη alóē	ἀλόᾱ alóā	ἀλόαι alóai
Notes:	This table gives Attic inflectional endings. For declension in other dialects, see Appendix:Ancient Greek dialectal declension.

Derived terms

• ξυλᾱλόη (xulālóē)

Descendants

• Greek: αλόη f (alói)
• → Aramaic:

  Jewish Palestinian Aramaic: אלויס, אלווס, אלוה

  Classical Syriac: ܐܠܘܐܐ, ܐܠܘܐ

  Jewish Babylonian Aramaic: אילווא

  • → Arabic: أَلْوَة (ʔalwa)
• → Latin: aloē (see there for further descendants)
• → Old Armenian: հալուէ (haluē)
  • → Armenian: հալվե (halve) (learned)
• → Old Georgian: ჰალოჲ (haloy), ალოვჱ (alovē), ალოეჱ (aloeē), ალოჲ (aloy)
  • Georgian: ალოე (aloe)

Further reading

• “ἀλόη”, in Liddell & Scott (1940) A Greek–English Lexicon, Oxford: Clarendon Press
• ἀλόη in Bailly, Anatole (1935) Le Grand Bailly: Dictionnaire grec-français, Paris: Hachette
• ἀλόη in the Diccionario Griego–Español en línea (2006–2024)
• G250 in Strong, James (1979) Strong’s Exhaustive Concordance to the Bible
• 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
• “ˀlwˀˀ”, in The Comprehensive Aramaic Lexicon Project, Cincinnati: Hebrew Union College, 1986–
• “ˁlwy”, in The Comprehensive Aramaic Lexicon Project, Cincinnati: Hebrew Union College, 1986–
• Brockelmann, Carl (1928) “ܥܠܘܝ”, in Lexicon Syriacum (in Latin), 2nd edition, Halle: Max Niemeyer, published 1995, page 526b
• Greppin, John A. C. (1988) “The Various Aloës in Ancient Times”, in Journal of Indo-European Studies, volume 16, pages 33–48
• Löw, Immanuel (1924) Die Flora der Juden‎^[1] (in German), volume 3, Wien und Leipzig: R. Löwit, page 413
• Löw, Immanuel (1881) Aramæische Pflanzennamen‎^[2] (in German), Leipzig: Wilhelm Engelmann, page 295
• Nöldeke, Theodor (1910) Neue Beiträge zur semitischen Sprachwissenschaft‎^[3] (in German), Straßburg: Karl J. Trübner, page 43