ὄμμα

Ancient Greek

Alternative forms

ὄππᾰ (óppa) — Aeolic

Etymology

From Proto-Hellenic *ókʷmə (“look, glance”), from the radical *ὀπ- (from Proto-Indo-European *h₃ekʷ- (“eye”)) + -μα (-ma), with regressive assimilation (compare the Aeolic form, with progressive assimilation).^[1]

Pronunciation

(5^th BCE Attic) IPA^(key): /óm.ma/
(1^st CE Egyptian) IPA^(key): /ˈom.ma/
(4^th CE Koine) IPA^(key): /ˈom.ma/
(10^th CE Byzantine) IPA^(key): /ˈom.ma/
(15^th CE Constantinopolitan) IPA^(key): /ˈo.ma/

Noun

ὄμμᾰ • (ómma) n (genitive ὄμμᾰτος); third declension

(chiefly poetic) eye
- 460 BCE – 395 BCE, Thucydides, History of the Peloponnesian War 2.11
- 360 BCE, Plato, Timaeus 45c
- 430 BCE – 354 BCE, Xenophon, Cyropaedia 8.7.26
- 430 BCE – 354 BCE, Xenophon, Memorabilia 1.4.6
- 371 BCE – 287 BCE, Theophrastus, On the Senses 50
- Polystr., Herc. 346.81.V.
- BGU 713.9
- IG 42(1).121.121
- 800 BCE – 600 BCE, Homer, Iliad 3.217
- 800 BCE – 600 BCE, Homer, Odyssey 5.492
- 522 BCE – 443 BCE, Pindar, Nemean Ode 10.63
- 429 BCE, Sophocles, Oedipus the King 1385
- 430 BCE – 354 BCE, Xenophon, Hellenica 7.1.30
- 429 BCE, Sophocles, Oedipus the King 528
- 429 BCE, Sophocles, Oedipus the King 1371
- 389 BCE – 314 BCE, Aeschines, Collected Works 3.121
- 497 BCE – 405 BCE, Sophocles, Women of Trachis 241
- 497 BCE – 405 BCE, Sophocles, Ajax 462
- 460 BCE – 420 BCE, Herodotus, Histories 1.37
- 429 BCE, Sophocles, Oedipus the King 81
- 497 BCE – 405 BCE, Sophocles, Women of Trachis 272
- 416 BCE, Euripides, Herakles 931
- 430 BCE, Euripides, Herakles' Children 887
- 442 BCE, Sophocles, Antigone 760
- 425 BCE, Euripides, Andromache 1064
- 425 BCE, Euripides, Andromache 1117
- 405 BCE, Euripides, The Bacchae 469
- 497 BCE – 405 BCE, Sophocles, Women of Trachis 102
- 497 BCE – 405 BCE, Sophocles, Women of Trachis 379
- 470 BCE, Aeschylus, The Suppliants 210
- 458 BCE, Aeschylus, Agamemnon 988
- 406 BCE, Sophocles, Oedipus at Colonus 15
- 431 BCE, Euripides, Medea 216
- 472 BCE, Aeschylus, The Persians 604
- 460 BCE – 395 BCE, Thucydides, History of the Peloponnesian War 2.11
- 423 BCE, Euripides, The Suppliants 1153
- 423 BCE, Euripides, The Suppliants 484
- 407 BCE, Euripides, Iphigenia in Aulis 743
- Phryn.Trag. 21
- 384 BCE – 322 BCE, Aristotle, Poetics 1455a.23
- 384 BCE – 322 BCE, Aristotle, Rhetoric 1386a.34
- 380 BCE, Plato, The Republic 533d
- c. 245 CE – c. 325 CE, Iamblichus Chalcidensis, Protrepticus 21.κδ᾽
1. the eye of heaven; i.e. the sun
  - 423 BCE, Aristophanes, The Clouds 285
  - 413 BCE, Euripides, Iphigenia in Tauris 194
  - 472 BCE, Aeschylus, The Persians 428
  - 413 BCE, Euripides, Iphigenia in Tauris 110
2. (generally) light
  1. (figuratively) that which brings light
    - 522 BCE – 443 BCE, Pindar, Pythian Ode 5.56
    - 472 BCE, Aeschylus, The Persians 169
    - 497 BCE – 405 BCE, Sophocles, Women of Trachis 203
  2. (figuratively) anything dear or precious, as the apple of an eye
    - 458 BCE, Aeschylus, The Eumenides 1025
3. the face or human form
  - 497 BCE – 405 BCE, Sophocles, Ajax 1004
  - 497 BCE – 405 BCE, Sophocles, Electra 903
  - 428 BCE – 347 BCE, Plato, Phaedrus 253e
  - 497 BCE – 405 BCE, Sophocles, Ajax 140
  - 497 BCE – 405 BCE, Sophocles, Women of Trachis 527
  - 497 BCE – 405 BCE, Sophocles, Ajax 977
  - 413 BCE, Euripides, Ion 1261
4. an eye-hole in a helmet
  - 350 CE – 450 CE, Nonnus, Dionysiaca 22.62

Declension

Third declension of τὸ ὄμμᾰ; τοῦ ὄμμᾰτος (Attic)

Case / #	Singular	Dual	Plural
Nominative	τὸ ὄμμᾰ tò ómma	τὼ ὄμμᾰτε tṑ ómmate	τᾰ̀ ὄμμᾰτᾰ tà ómmata
Genitive	τοῦ ὄμμᾰτος toû ómmatos	τοῖν ὀμμᾰ́τοιν toîn ommátoin	τῶν ὀμμᾰ́των tôn ommátōn
Dative	τῷ ὄμμᾰτῐ tôi ómmati	τοῖν ὀμμᾰ́τοιν toîn ommátoin	τοῖς ὄμμᾰσῐ / ὄμμᾰσῐν toîs ómmasi(n)
Accusative	τὸ ὄμμᾰ tò ómma	τὼ ὄμμᾰτε tṑ ómmate	τᾰ̀ ὄμμᾰτᾰ tà ómmata
Vocative	ὄμμᾰ ómma	ὄμμᾰτε ómmate	ὄμμᾰτᾰ ómmata
Notes:	This table gives Attic inflectional endings. For declension in other dialects, see Appendix:Ancient Greek dialectal declension.

Synonyms

(eye): ὄσσε du (ósse), ὀφθαλμός sg (ophthalmós), ὤψ sg (ṓps)
(face): ὤψ sg (ṓps)

Descendants

→ Translingual: Ommata

(through the diminutive ὀμμάτιον):

Byzantine Greek: μάτιν (mátin)
- Greek: μάτι (máti)

References

^ Beekes, Robert S. P. (2010) “ὄμμα, -ατος”, in Etymological Dictionary of Greek (Leiden Indo-European Etymological Dictionary Series; 10), with the assistance of Lucien van Beek, Leiden, Boston: Brill, →ISBN, pages 1077-8