λήμη

Ancient Greek

Etymology

Unexplained. Connection with Latin lāma (“marsh, mud”) and Lithuanian lōmas (“pit, hollow”) is semantically unconvincing. According to Beekes, it is rather a Pre-Greek word.

Pronunciation

(5^th BCE Attic) IPA^(key): /lɛ̌ː.mɛː/
(1^st CE Egyptian) IPA^(key): /ˈle̝.me̝/
(4^th CE Koine) IPA^(key): /ˈli.mi/
(10^th CE Byzantine) IPA^(key): /ˈli.mi/
(15^th CE Constantinopolitan) IPA^(key): /ˈli.mi/

Noun

λήμη • (lḗmē) f (genitive λήμης); first declension

rheum, sleep, a humour that gathers in the corner of the eye

Inflection

First declension of ἡ λήμη; τῆς λήμης (Attic)

Case / #	Singular	Dual	Plural
Nominative	ἡ λήμη hē lḗmē	τὼ λήμᾱ tṑ lḗmā	αἱ λῆμαι hai lêmai
Genitive	τῆς λήμης tês lḗmēs	τοῖν λήμαιν toîn lḗmain	τῶν λημῶν tôn lēmôn
Dative	τῇ λήμῃ têi lḗmēi	τοῖν λήμαιν toîn lḗmain	ταῖς λήμαις taîs lḗmais
Accusative	τὴν λήμην tḕn lḗmēn	τὼ λήμᾱ tṑ lḗmā	τᾱ̀ς λήμᾱς tā̀s lḗmās
Vocative	λήμη lḗmē	λήμᾱ lḗmā	λῆμαι lêmai
Notes:	This table gives Attic inflectional endings. For declension in other dialects, see Appendix:Ancient Greek dialectal declension.

Derived terms

λημηρός (lēmērós)
λημώδης (lēmṓdēs)
λήμωσῐς (lḗmōsis)
λημᾰλέος (lēmaléos)
λημᾰ́ω (lēmáō)
λημῐ́ον (lēmíon)
λημῠ́δρῐον (lēmúdrion)

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