μῆνις

See also: μήνις

Ancient Greek

Alternative forms

μᾶνις (mânis) — Doric, Aeolic

Etymology

The etymology is uncertain. The long vowel makes it unlikely that μῆνις is from the same proto-Indo-European root *men- that leads to words like μανία. Cf. Sanskrit मेनि (mení, “wrath, revenge, vengeance”), Sanskrit मन्यु (manyú, “anger, sorrow, spirit”), Albanian mëni, mëri (“anger, sorrow”). Alternately, following Beekes, a religious Pre-Greek word.^[1]

Pronunciation

(5^th BCE Attic) IPA^(key): /mɛ̂ː.nis/
(1^st CE Egyptian) IPA^(key): /ˈme̝.nis/
(4^th CE Koine) IPA^(key): /ˈmi.nis/
(10^th CE Byzantine) IPA^(key): /ˈmi.nis/
(15^th CE Constantinopolitan) IPA^(key): /ˈmi.nis/

Noun

μῆνῐς • (mênĭs) f (genitive μήνῐος or μήνῐδος); third declension

rage, wrath, mostly of the wrath of the gods
- 800 BCE – 600 BCE, Homer, Iliad 1.1:
  Μῆνιν ἄειδε, θεὰ, Πηληϊάδεω Ἀχιλῆος
  Mênin áeide, theà, Pēlēïádeō Akhilêos
  Translation by T.A. Murray
  The wrath sing, goddess, of Peleus' son, Achilles

Inflection

The alternative accusative singular, genitive singular and genitive plural forms with δ are first attested in late antiquity.

Third declension of ἡ μῆνῐς; τῆς μήνῐος (Attic)

Case / #	Singular	Dual	Plural
Nominative	ἡ μῆνῐς hē mênĭs	τὼ μήνῐε tṑ mḗnĭe	αἱ μήνῐες hai mḗnĭes
Genitive	τῆς μήνῐος tês mḗnĭos	τοῖν μηνῐ́οιν toîn mēnĭ́oin	τῶν μηνῐ́ων tôn mēnĭ́ōn
Dative	τῇ μήνῑ têi mḗnī	τοῖν μηνῐ́οιν toîn mēnĭ́oin	ταῖς μήνῐσῐ / μήνῐσῐν taîs mḗnĭsĭ(n)
Accusative	τὴν μῆνῐν tḕn mênĭn	τὼ μήνῐε tṑ mḗnĭe	τᾱ̀ς μήνῑς / μήνῐᾰς tā̀s mḗnīs / mḗnĭăs
Vocative	μῆνῐ mênĭ	μήνῐε mḗnĭe	μήνῐες mḗnĭes
Notes:	This table gives Attic inflectional endings. For declension in other dialects, see Appendix:Ancient Greek dialectal declension.

Third declension of ἡ μῆνῐς; τῆς μήνῐδος (Attic)

Case / #	Singular	Dual	Plural
Nominative	ἡ μῆνῐς hē mênĭs	τὼ μήνῐδε tṑ mḗnĭde	αἱ μήνῐδες hai mḗnĭdes
Genitive	τῆς μήνῐδος tês mḗnĭdos	τοῖν μηνῐ́δοιν toîn mēnĭ́doin	τῶν μηνῐ́δων tôn mēnĭ́dōn
Dative	τῇ μήνῐδῐ têi mḗnĭdĭ	τοῖν μηνῐ́δοιν toîn mēnĭ́doin	ταῖς μήνῐσῐ / μήνῐσῐν taîs mḗnĭsĭ(n)
Accusative	τὴν μήνῐδᾰ tḕn mḗnĭdă	τὼ μήνῐδε tṑ mḗnĭde	τᾱ̀ς μήνῐδᾰς tā̀s mḗnĭdăs
Vocative	μῆνῐς mênĭs	μήνῐδε mḗnĭde	μήνῐδες mḗnĭdes
Notes:	This table gives Attic inflectional endings. For declension in other dialects, see Appendix:Ancient Greek dialectal declension. Nominative singular -ς (-s) arose by reduction of the original cluster *-ds.

Derived terms

βαρύμηνις (barúmēnis)
δύσμηνις (dúsmēnis)
ἔμμηνις (émmēnis)
ἐπιμῆνις (epimênis)
μηνιάζω (mēniázō)
μηνίαμα (mēníama)
μηνιάω (mēniáō)
μηνίζω (mēnízō)
μηνιθμός (mēnithmós)
μήνιμα (mḗnima)
μήνισμα (mḗnisma)
μηνίτης (mēnítēs)
μηνίω (mēníō)
πολύμηνις (polúmēnis)
ταχύμηνις (takhúmēnis)

References

“μῆνις”, in Liddell & Scott (1940) A Greek–English Lexicon, Oxford: Clarendon Press
“μῆνις”, in Liddell & Scott (1889) An Intermediate Greek–English Lexicon, New York: Harper & Brothers
“μῆνις”, in Autenrieth, Georg (1891) A Homeric Dictionary for Schools and Colleges, New York: Harper and Brothers
μῆνις in Bailly, Anatole (1935) Le Grand Bailly: Dictionnaire grec-français, Paris: Hachette
μῆνις in Cunliffe, Richard J. (1924) A Lexicon of the Homeric Dialect: Expanded Edition, Norman: University of Oklahoma Press, published 1963
Woodhouse, S. C. (1910) English–Greek Dictionary: A Vocabulary of the Attic Language‎, London: Routledge & Kegan Paul Limited.
- anger idem, page 29.
- indignation idem, page 433.
- ire idem, page 459.
- passion idem, page 597.
- rage idem, page 668.
Wilhelm Pape, Handwörterbuch der griechischen Sprache: μῆνις

^ Beekes, Robert S. P. (2010) “μῆνις [f.]”, in Etymological Dictionary of Greek (Leiden Indo-European Etymological Dictionary Series; 10), volume II, with the assistance of Lucien van Beek, Leiden, Boston: Brill, →ISBN, page 946

[1] Beekes, Robert S. P. (2010) “μῆνις [f.]”, in Etymological Dictionary of Greek (Leiden Indo-European Etymological Dictionary Series; 10), volume II, with the assistance of Lucien van Beek, Leiden, Boston: Brill, →ISBN, page 946

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