ἱπποκένταυρος

Ancient Greek

Etymology

From ἵππος (híppos, “horse”) +‎ Κένταυρος (Kéntauros, “Centaur”). While "horse centaur" may seem redundant, it should be noted that Κένταυρος (Kéntauros) originally referred to a race of people, the Centaurs, who are associated in some myths with the origin of the creature "centaur". This term likely made the distinction between a person of the Centaur race and the creature, until later, when the word κένταυρος (kéntauros) simply referred to the creature. Note that while Wiktionary distinguishes between upper and lower case in Ancient Greek words, Ancient Greek did not (minuscules were not invented until the seventh century).

Pronunciation

 

• IPA^(key): /hip.po.kén.tau̯.ros/ → /ip.poˈcen.ta.βros/ → /i.poˈcen.da.vros/

• (5^th BCE Attic) IPA^(key): /hip.po.kén.tau̯.ros/
• (1^st CE Egyptian) IPA^(key): /(h)ip.poˈken.taw.ros/
• (4^th CE Koine) IPA^(key): /ip.poˈcen.ta.βros/
• (10^th CE Byzantine) IPA^(key): /ip.poˈcen.ta.vros/
• (15^th CE Constantinopolitan) IPA^(key): /i.poˈcen.da.vros/

Noun

ῐ̔πποκένταυρος • (hippokéntauros) m (genitive ῐ̔πποκενταύρου); second declension

1. centaur
2. any mythical creature [later]

Inflection

Second declension of ὁ ῐ̔πποκένταυρος; τοῦ ῐ̔πποκενταύρου (Attic)

Case / #	Singular	Dual	Plural
Nominative	ὁ ῐ̔πποκένταυρος ho hippokéntauros	τὼ ῐ̔πποκενταύρω tṑ hippokentaúrō	οἱ ῐ̔πποκένταυροι hoi hippokéntauroi
Genitive	τοῦ ῐ̔πποκενταύρου toû hippokentaúrou	τοῖν ῐ̔πποκενταύροιν toîn hippokentaúroin	τῶν ῐ̔πποκενταύρων tôn hippokentaúrōn
Dative	τῷ ῐ̔πποκενταύρῳ tôi hippokentaúrōi	τοῖν ῐ̔πποκενταύροιν toîn hippokentaúroin	τοῖς ῐ̔πποκενταύροις toîs hippokentaúrois
Accusative	τὸν ῐ̔πποκένταυρον tòn hippokéntauron	τὼ ῐ̔πποκενταύρω tṑ hippokentaúrō	τοὺς ῐ̔πποκενταύρους toùs hippokentaúrous
Vocative	ῐ̔πποκένταυρε hippokéntaure	ῐ̔πποκενταύρω hippokentaúrō	ῐ̔πποκένταυροι hippokéntauroi
Notes:	This table gives Attic inflectional endings. For declension in other dialects, see Appendix:Ancient Greek dialectal declension.

Descendants

• → Latin: hippocentaurus
  • → English: hippocentaur
  • → French: hippocentaure

References

• “ἱπποκένταυρος”, in Liddell & Scott (1940) A Greek–English Lexicon, Oxford: Clarendon Press
• “ἱπποκένταυρος”, in Liddell & Scott (1889) An Intermediate Greek–English Lexicon, New York: Harper & Brothers
• ἱπποκένταυρος in Bailly, Anatole (1935) Le Grand Bailly: Dictionnaire grec-français, Paris: Hachette