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μύρμηξ. In DICTIOUS you will not only get to know all the dictionary meanings for the word
μύρμηξ, but we will also tell you about its etymology, its characteristics and you will know how to say
μύρμηξ in singular and plural. Everything you need to know about the word
μύρμηξ you have here. The definition of the word
μύρμηξ will help you to be more precise and correct when speaking or writing your texts. Knowing the definition of
μύρμηξ, as well as those of other words, enriches your vocabulary and provides you with more and better linguistic resources.
Ancient Greek
Etymology
From Proto-Indo-European *morwi-. Related to Old Armenian մրջիւն (mrǰiwn) and Latin formica and perhaps Sanskrit वल्मी (valmī). Despite the suffix -ηκ- (-ēk-), which typically indicates origin from Pre-Greek (cf. Beekes 2014), Beekes considers this to be a genuinely Indo-European term which underwent various tabooistic deformations, comparing Proto-Indo-European *wr̥mis (“worm”) (see ῥόμος (rhómos, “wood-worm”)), and notes that similar forms with a velar suffix are found in other Indo-European cognates: Latin formīca (“ant”), Sanskrit वल्मीक (valmīka, “ant-hill”). Compare ὅρμικας pl (hórmikas, “ants”). βύρμαξ (búrmax) ~ βόρμαξ (bórmax) may be related as well.
Pronunciation
- IPA(key): /mýr.mɛːks/ → /ˈmyr.miks/ → /ˈmir.miks/
Noun
μύρμηξ • (múrmēx) m (genitive μύρμηκος); third declension
- ant
- a mythical gold-digging animal sometimes identified with ants
Declension
Derived terms
Descendants
References
- Beekes, Robert S. P. (2010) “μύρμηξ, -ηκος”, in Etymological Dictionary of Greek (Leiden Indo-European Etymological Dictionary Series; 10), with the assistance of Lucien van Beek, Leiden, Boston: Brill, →ISBN, page 982
- Beekes, Robert S. P. (2014) Stefan Norbruis, editor, Pre-Greek: Phonology, Morphology, Lexicon, Leiden: Brill, →ISBN, page 34: “55. -ηκ-, -ηχ-”
- “μύρμηξ”, in Liddell & Scott (1940) A Greek–English Lexicon, Oxford: Clarendon Press
- “μύρμηξ”, in Liddell & Scott (1889) An Intermediate Greek–English Lexicon, New York: Harper & Brothers
- μύρμηξ in Bailly, Anatole (1935) Le Grand Bailly: Dictionnaire grec-français, Paris: Hachette
- μύρμηξ in Trapp, Erich, et al. (1994–2007) Lexikon zur byzantinischen Gräzität besonders des 9.-12. Jahrhunderts [the Lexicon of Byzantine Hellenism, Particularly the 9th–12th Centuries], Verlag der Österreichischen Akademie der Wissenschaften
- Woodhouse, S. C. (1910) English–Greek Dictionary: A Vocabulary of the Attic Language, London: Routledge & Kegan Paul Limited.