κύβος

Hello, you have come here looking for the meaning of the word κύβος. In DICTIOUS you will not only get to know all the dictionary meanings for the word κύβος, but we will also tell you about its etymology, its characteristics and you will know how to say κύβος in singular and plural. Everything you need to know about the word κύβος you have here. The definition of the word κύβος will help you to be more precise and correct when speaking or writing your texts. Knowing the definition ofκύβος, as well as those of other words, enriches your vocabulary and provides you with more and better linguistic resources.

Ancient Greek

Etymology

Difficult to trace. The word passed to and from a number of languages (compare Latin cubus (mass, quantity; cube)).

Often thought to be derived from the root Proto-Indo-European *kewbh₂- (to lie down (actively)), reconstructed in LIV based on Latin cubō (to lie down (passively)) and some other verb forms. Compare Proto-Germanic *hupiz (hip) and Latin cubitus (elbow), and (formally unrelated) Ancient Greek ἀστράγαλος (astrágalos, astragalus bone, knucklebone; dice (made from a knucklebone)) for the semantic connection between “vertebra, bone (of an animal)” and “die, dice”. Animal bones were historically used as playing dice.

According to Beekes, words for dice are often loans and the Lydians claimed to have invented the game of κύβος (kúbos), suggesting a possible loan from Lydian.[1]

Appears to have no relation to Arabic كَعْبَة (kaʕba).

Pronunciation

 

Noun

κύβος (kúbosm (genitive κύβου); second declension

  1. (geometry) square
  2. (geometry) cube
  3. die, dice
    • 46 CE – 120 CE, Plutarch, Julius Caesar 32:
      τέλος δὲ μετὰ θυμοῦ τινος ὥσπερ ἀφεὶς ἑαυτὸν ἐκ τοῦ λογισμοῦ πρὸς τὸ μέλλον, καὶ τοῦτο δὴ τὸ κοινὸν τοῖς εἰς τύχας ἐμβαίνουσιν ἀπόρους καὶ τόλμας προοίμιον ὑπειπὼν, “Ἀνερρίφθω κύβος,” ὥρμησε πρὸς τὴν διάβασιν καὶ δρόμῳ τὸ λοιπὸν ἤδη χρώμενος εἰσέπεσε πρὸ ἡμέρας εἰς τὸ Ἀρίμινον καὶ κατέσχε.
      télos dè metà thumoû tinos hṓsper apheìs heautòn ek toû logismoû pròs tò méllon, kaì toûto dḕ tò koinòn toîs eis túkhas embaínousin apórous kaì tólmas prooímion hupeipṑn, “Anerrhíphthō kúbos,” hṓrmēse pròs tḕn diábasin kaì drómōi tò loipòn ḗdē khrṓmenos eisépese prò hēméras eis tò Aríminon kaì katéskhe.
      • 1919 translation by Bernadotte Perrin
        But finally, with a sort of passion, as if abandoning calculation and casting himself upon the future, and uttering the phrase with which men usually prelude their plunge into desperate and daring fortunes, “Let the die be cast,” he hastened to cross the river; and going at full speed now for the rest of the time, before daybreak he dashed into Ariminum and took possession of it.
  4. chance
  5. (mathematics) cube, cubic number
  6. (anatomy) vertebra; hollow above the hip of cattle

Inflection

Derived terms

Descendants

  • Greek: κύβος (kývos)
  • Latin: cubus
  • Russian: куб (kub)
  • Classical Syriac: ܩܘܒܘܣ (qwbws /⁠qūbōs⁠/, cube)
    • Arabic: قوبوس (/⁠qūbōs⁠/, cube)

References

  1. ^ 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

Further reading

Greek

Etymology

From Ancient Greek κύβος (kúbos).

Noun

κύβος (kývosm (plural κύβοι)

  1. (geometry) cube

Declension

Declension of κύβος
singular plural
nominative κύβος (kývos) κύβοι (kývoi)
genitive κύβου (kývou) κύβων (kývon)
accusative κύβο (kývo) κύβους (kývous)
vocative κύβε (kýve) κύβοι (kývoi)

Derived terms