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φακός. In DICTIOUS you will not only get to know all the dictionary meanings for the word
φακός, but we will also tell you about its etymology, its characteristics and you will know how to say
φακός in singular and plural. Everything you need to know about the word
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Ancient Greek
Etymology
Disputed. From a root *bʰaḱ- shared with Albanian bathë (“broad bean”). The initial *bʰa- is also found in Latin faba (“bean”), Proto-Slavic *bòbъ (“bean”) and Proto-Germanic *baunō (“bean”). Alternatively akin to ἀφάκη (aphákē, “vetch”), in which case possibly from Pre-Greek. An Illyrian origin has also been proposed, in which case the word could be a doublet of φάσηλος (phásēlos, “cowpea”).[1]
However note Classical Syriac ܦܘܗܘ (pāhū), ܦܐܟܘ (paḵū, “lentil”) vs ܦܘܗܐ (pāhā, pāhū, “pimple, pustule, sore”), paralleling Akkadian 𒄘𒌉 (GU₂.TUR /kakkû/, “lentil”) already found in Old Akkadian vs. 𒆕𒆪𒌈 (kak-ku-tum /kakkūtu/, “single lentil; pimple, acne, pustule?”).[2]
It is likely that the terms mentioned above are all related and derived from an ancient European and Mediterranean substrate word for "bean", which was borrowed by various groups in the area, particularly considering that the words for various beans in Indo-Aryan, a branch of Indo-European removed from this area, do not resemble the above terms.
Pronunciation
- IPA(key): /pʰa.kós/ → /ɸaˈkos/ → /faˈkos/
Noun
φᾰκός • (phakós) m (genitive φᾰκοῦ); second declension
- lentil (Lens culinaris) and its seed
- anything shaped like a lentil:
- sort of hot water bottle
- mole, birthmark, spot on the skin
- ornament on beds
Inflection
Derived terms
References
Further reading
- “φακός”, in Liddell & Scott (1940) A Greek–English Lexicon, Oxford: Clarendon Press
- “φακός”, in Liddell & Scott (1889) An Intermediate Greek–English Lexicon, New York: Harper & Brothers
- φακός in Bailly, Anatole (1935) Le Grand Bailly: Dictionnaire grec-français, Paris: Hachette
- Woodhouse, S. C. (1910) English–Greek Dictionary: A Vocabulary of the Attic Language, London: Routledge & Kegan Paul Limited.
- 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
- Payne Smith, Robert (1879–1901) Thesaurus Syriacus (in Latin), Oxford: Clarendon Press, column 3052b
- Löw, Immanuel (1924) Die Flora der Juden (in German), volume 2, Wien und Leipzig: R. Löwit, page 444, about Semitic words for freckles from words for lentil. In particular “ṭlpḥ”, in The Comprehensive Aramaic Lexicon Project, Cincinnati: Hebrew Union College, 1986–, “ṭlpḥwn”, in The Comprehensive Aramaic Lexicon Project, Cincinnati: Hebrew Union College, 1986–, “ṭlpḥn”, in The Comprehensive Aramaic Lexicon Project, Cincinnati: Hebrew Union College, 1986– – potentially the Classical Syriac ܦܐܟܘ (paḵū, “lentil”) and the Greek are the second half of this word.
Greek
Etymology
From Ancient Greek φακός (phakós).
Pronunciation
Noun
φακός • (fakós) m (plural φακοί)
- (optics) lens
- torch (UK), flashlight (US)
Declension
Further reading