ἔθνος

See also: έθνος

Ancient Greek

PIE word
*swé

Probably from Ancient Greek ἔθω (éthō, “I am accustomed, wont (to something)”) + -νος (-nos), equivalent to Proto-Indo-European *swedʰ-no-, expanded from the reflexive pronoun Proto-Indo-European *swé (“self”) + *dʰeh₁- (“to put, place, set”).^[1]

ἔθνος • (éthnos) n (genitive ἔθνεος or ἔθνους); third declension

Case / #	Singular	Dual	Plural
Nominative	τὸ ἔθνος tò éthnos	τὼ ἔθνει tṑ éthnei	τᾰ̀ ἔθνη tà éthnē
Genitive	τοῦ ἔθνους toû éthnous	τοῖν ἐθνοῖν toîn ethnoîn	τῶν ἐθνῶν tôn ethnôn
Dative	τῷ ἔθνει tôi éthnei	τοῖν ἐθνοῖν toîn ethnoîn	τοῖς ἔθνεσῐ / ἔθνεσῐν toîs éthnesi(n)
Accusative	τὸ ἔθνος tò éthnos	τὼ ἔθνει tṑ éthnei	τᾰ̀ ἔθνη tà éthnē
Vocative	ἔθνος éthnos	ἔθνει éthnei	ἔθνη éthnē
Notes:	This table gives Attic inflectional endings. For declension in other dialects, see Appendix:Ancient Greek dialectal declension.

Case / #	Singular	Dual	Plural
Nominative	τὸ ἔθνος tò éthnos	τὼ ἔθνει / ἔθνεε tṑ éthnei / éthnee	τᾰ̀ ἔθνεᾰ tà éthnea
Genitive	τοῦ ἔθνεος / ἔθνευς toû éthneos / éthneus	τοῖν ἐθνέοιν toîn ethnéoin	τῶν ἐθνέων tôn ethnéōn
Dative	τῷ ἔθνει / ἔθνεῐ̈ tôi éthnei / éthneï	τοῖν ἐθνέοιν toîn ethnéoin	τοῖσῐ / τοῖσῐν ἔθνεσῐ / ἔθνεσῐν toîsi(n) éthnesi(n)
Accusative	τὸ ἔθνος tò éthnos	τὼ ἔθνει / ἔθνεε tṑ éthnei / éthnee	τᾰ̀ ἔθνεᾰ tà éthnea
Vocative	ἔθνος éthnos	ἔθνει / ἔθνεε éthnei / éthnee	ἔθνεᾰ éthnea
Notes:	Dialects other than Attic are not well attested. Some forms may be based on conjecture. Use with caution.

from the spoken alternative form ἕθνος (héthnos):

^ Beekes, Robert S. P. (2010) “ἔθνος”, in Etymological Dictionary of Greek (Leiden Indo-European Etymological Dictionary Series; 10), volume I, with the assistance of Lucien van Beek, Leiden, Boston: Brill, →ISBN, pages 377–378

“ἔθνος”, in Liddell & Scott (1940) A Greek–English Lexicon, Oxford: Clarendon Press
“ἔθνος”, in Liddell & Scott (1889) An Intermediate Greek–English Lexicon, New York: Harper & Brothers
“ἔθνος”, in Autenrieth, Georg (1891) A Homeric Dictionary for Schools and Colleges, New York: Harper and Brothers
ἔθνος in Bailly, Anatole (1935) Le Grand Bailly: Dictionnaire grec-français, Paris: Hachette
Bauer, Walter et al. (2001) A Greek–English Lexicon of the New Testament and Other Early Christian Literature, Third edition, Chicago: University of Chicago Press
ἔθνος in Cunliffe, Richard J. (1924) A Lexicon of the Homeric Dialect: Expanded Edition, Norman: University of Oklahoma Press, published 1963
ἔθνος in the Diccionario Griego–Español en línea (2006–2024)
“ἔθνος”, in Slater, William J. (1969) Lexicon to Pindar, Berlin: Walter de Gruyter
G1484 in Strong, James (1979) Strong’s Exhaustive Concordance to the Bible
Woodhouse, S. C. (1910) English–Greek Dictionary: A Vocabulary of the Attic Language‎, London: Routledge & Kegan Paul Limited.
- caste idem, page 117.
- class idem, page 135.
- folk idem, page 332.
- nation idem, page 551.
- order idem, page 578.
- people idem, page 604.
- race idem, page 667.
- tribe idem, page 894.