ἀμφίς

Ancient Greek

Alternative forms

• ᾰ̓μφῐ́ (ămphĭ́)

Etymology

From Proto-Indo-European *h₂m̥bʰi (“round about, around”), same source as Old High German umbi (“around”), Old Irish imb, Old English ymbe, Latin ambi-, Sanskrit अभितस् (abhítas, “on both sides”).

Pronunciation

 

• IPA^(key): /am.pʰís/ → /amˈɸis/ → /amˈfis/

• (5^th BCE Attic) IPA^(key): /am.pʰís/
• (1^st CE Egyptian) IPA^(key): /amˈpʰis/
• (4^th CE Koine) IPA^(key): /amˈɸis/
• (10^th CE Byzantine) IPA^(key): /amˈfis/
• (15^th CE Constantinopolitan) IPA^(key): /amˈfis/

Adverb

ᾰ̓μφῐ́ς • (ămphĭ́s)

1. on both sides
2. around
3. apart, asunder
4. separately
5. between

Preposition

ᾰ̓μφῐ́ς • (ămphĭ́s) (governs the genitive)

1. around
2. apart from, far from

Usage notes

While ἀμφίς is technically simply an alternative spelling of ἀμφί, in practice the former generally functions as an adverb, and the latter as a preposition. Both are largely replaced by περί in later Greek.

Further reading

• “ἀμφίς”, in Liddell & Scott (1940) A Greek–English Lexicon, Oxford: Clarendon Press
• “ἀμφίς”, in Liddell & Scott (1889) An Intermediate Greek–English Lexicon, New York: Harper & Brothers
• “ἀμφίς”, in Autenrieth, Georg (1891) A Homeric Dictionary for Schools and Colleges, New York: Harper and Brothers
• ἀμφίς in Bailly, Anatole (1935) Le Grand Bailly: Dictionnaire grec-français, Paris: Hachette
• ἀμφίς in Cunliffe, Richard J. (1924) A Lexicon of the Homeric Dialect: Expanded Edition, Norman: University of Oklahoma Press, published 1963
• ἀμφίς in the Diccionario Griego–Español en línea (2006–2025)
• “ἀμφίς”, in Slater, William J. (1969) Lexicon to Pindar, Berlin: Walter de Gruyter