βασσάρα

Ancient Greek

Etymology

Herodotus calls the word Libyan, which seems supported by the etymological connection with Coptic ⲃⲁϣⲁⲣ (bašar); Černý, however, regards the Coptic as a loanword from Greek. Szemerényi further tries to maintain the connection with Hittite (u̯aššuu̯ar, “clothing”), rightly rejected by Neumann.

Pronunciation

(5^th BCE Attic) IPA^(key): /bas.sá.raː/
(1^st CE Egyptian) IPA^(key): /basˈsa.ra/
(4^th CE Koine) IPA^(key): /βasˈsa.ra/
(10^th CE Byzantine) IPA^(key): /vasˈsa.ra/
(15^th CE Constantinopolitan) IPA^(key): /vaˈsa.ra/

Noun

βᾰσσᾰ́ρᾱ • (băssắrā) f (genitive βᾰσσᾰ́ρᾱς); first declension

fox (Vulpes vulpes)
Synonym: ἀλώπηξ (alṓpēx)
dress of Thracian bacchanals, made of fox skins
(by extension) Thracian bacchanal
(by extension) impudent woman, courtesan

Inflection

First declension of ἡ βᾰσσᾰ́ρᾱ; τῆς βᾰσσᾰ́ρᾱς (Attic)

Case / #	Singular	Dual	Plural
Nominative	ἡ βᾰσσᾰ́ρᾱ hē băssắrā	τὼ βᾰσσᾰ́ρᾱ tṑ băssắrā	αἱ βᾰσσᾰ́ραι hai băssắrai
Genitive	τῆς βᾰσσᾰ́ρᾱς tês băssắrās	τοῖν βᾰσσᾰ́ραιν toîn băssắrain	τῶν βᾰσσᾰρῶν tôn băssărôn
Dative	τῇ βᾰσσᾰ́ρᾳ têi băssắrāi	τοῖν βᾰσσᾰ́ραιν toîn băssắrain	ταῖς βᾰσσᾰ́ραις taîs băssắrais
Accusative	τὴν βᾰσσᾰ́ρᾱν tḕn băssắrān	τὼ βᾰσσᾰ́ρᾱ tṑ băssắrā	τᾱ̀ς βᾰσσᾰ́ρᾱς tā̀s băssắrās
Vocative	βᾰσσᾰ́ρᾱ băssắrā	βᾰσσᾰ́ρᾱ băssắrā	βᾰσσᾰ́ραι băssắrai
Notes:	This table gives Attic inflectional endings. For declension in other dialects, see Appendix:Ancient Greek dialectal declension.

Derived terms

βασσαρεύς (bassareús)
βασσαρέω (bassaréō)
βασσαρικός (bassarikós)
βασσάριον (bassárion)
βασσαρίς (bassarís)
βάσσαρος (bássaros)

Descendants

→ Coptic: ⲃⲁϣⲟⲣ (bašor), ⲃⲁϣⲁⲣ (bašar)
→ New Latin: bassariscus

References

“βασσάρα”, in Liddell & Scott (1940) A Greek–English Lexicon, Oxford: Clarendon Press
βασσάρα in Bailly, Anatole (1935) Le Grand Bailly: Dictionnaire grec-français, Paris: Hachette
βασσάρα in the Diccionario Griego–Español en línea (2006–2025)
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