If referring to the color, the word might be identical in origin with Proto-Germanic *brūnaz (“brown”), which is from Proto-Indo-European *bʰerH- (“grey, brown”). With reduplication, compare Sanskrit बभ्रु (babhru, “mongoose”), Avestan 𐬠𐬀𐬡𐬭𐬀 (baβra, “beaver”), Latin fiber (“beaver”) and Lithuanian bẽbras (“beaver”), all from Proto-Indo-European *bʰébʰrus. However, the variation between φρυν- and φρουν- rather points to a Pre-Greek word, according to Beekes.
φρῡ́νη • (phrū́nē) f (genitive φρῡ́νης); first declension
| Case / # | Singular | Dual | Plural | ||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Nominative | ἡ φρῡ́νη hē phrū́nē |
τὼ φρῡ́νᾱ tṑ phrū́nā |
αἱ φρῦναι hai phrûnai | ||||||||||
| Genitive | τῆς φρῡ́νης tês phrū́nēs |
τοῖν φρῡ́ναιν toîn phrū́nain |
τῶν φρῡνῶν tôn phrūnôn | ||||||||||
| Dative | τῇ φρῡ́νῃ têi phrū́nēi |
τοῖν φρῡ́ναιν toîn phrū́nain |
ταῖς φρῡ́ναις taîs phrū́nais | ||||||||||
| Accusative | τὴν φρῡ́νην tḕn phrū́nēn |
τὼ φρῡ́νᾱ tṑ phrū́nā |
τᾱ̀ς φρῡ́νᾱς tā̀s phrū́nās | ||||||||||
| Vocative | φρῡ́νη phrū́nē |
φρῡ́νᾱ phrū́nā |
φρῦναι phrûnai | ||||||||||
| Notes: |
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