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ἀκτίς. In DICTIOUS you will not only get to know all the dictionary meanings for the word
ἀκτίς, but we will also tell you about its etymology, its characteristics and you will know how to say
ἀκτίς in singular and plural. Everything you need to know about the word
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Ancient Greek
Etymology
From an uncertain source apparently shared with Sanskrit अक्तु (aktú, “beam, ray”),[1] perhaps:
- Proto-Indo-European *h₂ekt- (“beam”), from an unidentified root;
- Proto-Indo-European *h₂eḱ- (“sharp point”), which would exclude the Sanskrit;
- Proto-Indo-European *n̥kʷt-ín-, *n̥kʷt-ú-, from *nokʷt- (“night”), with an obscure semantic development, perhaps “end of the night” which shifted to “dawn”, as paralleled by Gothic 𐌿𐌷𐍄𐍅𐍉 (uhtwō, “dawn”), and then “first light of dawn; ray of (dawn sun)light”. This is evidenced by the night-related meanings in the Sanskrit cognate.[2] However, Beekes rejects this etymology due to the lack of evidence for a labiovelar.
The suffix is unexplained in any case.
Pronunciation
- IPA(key): /aːk.tǐːs/ → /akˈtis/ → /akˈtis/
Noun
ἀκτῑ́ς • (aktī́s) f (genitive ἀκτῖνος); third declension
- ray, beam
- (figuratively) brightness, splendor
- spoke (of a wheel)
Declension
Descendants
Greek: ακτίνα (aktína)
References
- ^ Beekes, Robert S. P. (2010) “ἀκτίς, -ῖνος”, in Etymological Dictionary of Greek (Leiden Indo-European Etymological Dictionary Series; 10), with the assistance of Lucien van Beek, Leiden, Boston: Brill, →ISBN, pages 58–59
- ^ Mallory, J. P., Adams, D. Q. (2006) The Oxford introduction to Proto-Indo-European and the Proto-Indo-European world, Oxford University Press, page 305
Further reading
- “ἀκτίς”, in Liddell & Scott (1940) A Greek–English Lexicon, Oxford: Clarendon Press
- “ἀκτίς”, in Liddell & Scott (1889) An Intermediate Greek–English Lexicon, New York: Harper & Brothers
- “ἀκτίς”, in Autenrieth, Georg (1891) A Homeric Dictionary for Schools and Colleges, New York: Harper and Brothers
- ἀκτίς in Bailly, Anatole (1935) Le Grand Bailly: Dictionnaire grec-français, Paris: Hachette
- ἀκτίς in Cunliffe, Richard J. (1924) A Lexicon of the Homeric Dialect: Expanded Edition, Norman: University of Oklahoma Press, published 1963
- ἀκτίς in the Diccionario Griego–Español en línea (2006–2024)
- “ἀκτίς”, in Slater, William J. (1969) Lexicon to Pindar, Berlin: Walter de Gruyter
- Woodhouse, S. C. (1910) English–Greek Dictionary: A Vocabulary of the Attic Language, London: Routledge & Kegan Paul Limited.