Pnyx

English

WOTD – 8 November 2022

Etymology

The orators’ bema or platform of the Pnyx in Athens, Greece.

Borrowed from Ancient Greek Πνύξ (Pnúx); since ancient times it has been claimed the word is derived from πυκνός (puknós, “close-packed; dense; thick”), possibly from Proto-Indo-European *puḱ- (“to press together”), but the Oxford English Dictionary considers this a folk etymology with no evidence supporting it.

Pronunciation

• (Received Pronunciation, General American) IPA^(key): /ˈnɪks/, /ˈpnɪks/

• Audio (Southern England):

  (file)

• Homophones: nicks, nix, Nyx (one pronunciation)
• Rhymes: -ɪks

Proper noun

Pnyx

1. (Ancient Greece, historical) A hill in Athens west of the Acropolis with a stone platform and steps set into its side, which was used as the meeting place of the democratic assembly in Ancient Greece.

Translations

hill in Athens west of the Acropolis

• Arabic: بنيكس ?
• Bulgarian: Пникс (Pniks)
• Chinese:

  Mandarin: 普尼克斯 (Pǔníkèsī)

• Corsican: Pnici
• Dutch: Pnyx
• Esperanto: Pniko
• Finnish: Pnyks
• French: Pnyx (fr) m or f
• German: Pnyx m
• Greek: Πνύκα (el) f (Pnýka)

  Ancient Greek: Πνύξ f (Pnúx)

• Hebrew: פְּנִיקְס f (pniks)
• Hungarian: Pnüx
• Italian: Pnice ?
• Japanese: プニュクス
• Korean: 프닉스 (peunikseu)
• Polish: Pnyks m
• Portuguese: Pnyx ?
• Russian: Пникс m (Pniks)
• Turkish: Pniks
• Ukrainian: Пнікс ? (Pniks)

Further reading

• Pnyx on Wikipedia.Wikipedia