ἰχθύς

See also: ιχθύς and ΙΧΘΥΣ

Ancient Greek

Alternative forms

• ἰχθῦς (ikhthûs)

Etymology

Perhaps from Proto-Indo-European *dʰǵʰu-, but the initial ἰ is unetymological and problematic. Compare Old Armenian ձուկն (jukn) and Lithuanian žuvis.

Pronunciation

 

• IPA^(key): /ikʰ.tʰy̌ːs/ → /ixˈθys/ → /ixˈθis/

• (5^th BCE Attic) IPA^(key): /ikʰ.tʰy̌ːs/
• (1^st CE Egyptian) IPA^(key): /ikʰˈtʰys/
• (4^th CE Koine) IPA^(key): /ixˈθys/
• (10^th CE Byzantine) IPA^(key): /ixˈθys/
• (15^th CE Constantinopolitan) IPA^(key): /ixˈθis/

Noun

ἰχθῡ́ς • (ikhthū́s) m (genitive ἰχθῠ́ος); third declension

1. fish
   • 800 BCE – 600 BCE, Homer, Iliad 24.82:

     ἔρχεται ὠμηστῇσιν ἐπ’ ἰχθύσι κῆρα φέρουσα

     érkhetai ōmēstêisin ep’ ikhthúsi kêra phérousa

     goeth down bearing death to the ravenous fishes

   1. (figuratively) stupid person
      • 46 CE – 120 CE, Plutarch, Moralia 2.975b
   2. (in the plural) fish market
      • 405 BCE, Aristophanes, The Frogs 1068:

        κἂν ταῦτα λέγων ἐξαπατήσῃ, παρὰ τοὺς ἰχθῦς ἀνέκυψεν.

        kàn taûta légōn exapatḗsēi, parà toùs ikhthûs anékupsen.

        And if he fooled 'em with that story, he'd pop up in the fish market.

   3. (in the plural) Pisces (constellation)
      • 190 BCE – 120 BCE, Hipparchus, Collected Works 1.2.3
      • 234 CE – 305 CE, Porphyry, Antr. 22

Inflection

Third declension of ὁ ἰχθῡ́ς; τοῦ ἰχθῠ́ος (Attic)

Case / #	Singular	Dual	Plural
Nominative	ὁ ἰχθῡ́ς ho ikhthū́s	τὼ ἰχθῠ́ε tṑ ikhthúe	οἱ ἰχθῠ́ες hoi ikhthúes
Genitive	τοῦ ἰχθῠ́ος toû ikhthúos	τοῖν ἰχθῠ́οιν toîn ikhthúoin	τῶν ἰχθῠ́ων tôn ikhthúōn
Dative	τῷ ἰχθῠ́ῐ̈ tôi ikhthúï	τοῖν ἰχθῠ́οιν toîn ikhthúoin	τοῖς ἰχθῠ́σῐ / ἰχθῠ́σῐν toîs ikhthúsi(n)
Accusative	τὸν ἰχθῡ́ν / ἰχθῠ́ᾰ tòn ikhthū́n / ikhthúa	τὼ ἰχθῠ́ε tṑ ikhthúe	τοὺς ἰχθῦς / ἰχθῠ́ᾰς toùs ikhthûs / ikhthúas
Vocative	ἰχθῡ́ ikhthū́	ἰχθῠ́ε ikhthúe	ἰχθῠ́ες ikhthúes
Notes:	This table gives Attic inflectional endings. For declension in other dialects, see Appendix:Ancient Greek dialectal declension.

Derived terms

• εὔιχθῠς (eúikhthus)
• ἰχθυστεφής (ikhthustephḗs)
• ἰχθῠάζομαι (ikhthuázomai)
• ἰχθῠ́βολος (ikhthúbolos)
• ἰχθῠβόρος (ikhthubóros)
• ἰχθῠ́βοτος (ikhthúbotos)
• ἰχθῠγόνος (ikhthugónos)
• ἰχθῠδόκος (ikhthudókos)
• ἰχθῠεῖον (ikhthueîon)
• ἰχθῠήμᾰτᾰ (ikhthuḗmata)
• ἰχθῠηρός (ikhthuērós)
• ἰχθῠ́κεντρον (ikhthúkentron)
• ἰχθῠμέδων (ikhthumédōn)
• ἰχθῠνόμος (ikhthunómos)
• ἰχθῠόβρωτος (ikhthuóbrōtos)
• ἰχθῠοειδής (ikhthuoeidḗs)
• ἰχθῠόεις (ikhthuóeis)
• ἰχθῠοθηρευτής (ikhthuothēreutḗs)
• ἰχθῠοθηρητήρ (ikhthuothērētḗr)
• ἰχθῠοθήρᾱ (ikhthuothḗrā)
• ἰχθῠοθήρᾱς (ikhthuothḗrās)
• ἰχθῠοθηρῐ́ᾱ (ikhthuothēríā)
• ἰχθῠοκένταυρος (ikhthuokéntauros)
• ἰχθῠόκολλᾰ (ikhthuókolla)
• ἰχθῠολογέω (ikhthuologéō)
• ἰχθῠολῡ́μης (ikhthuolū́mēs)
• ἰχθῠόμαντῐς (ikhthuómantis)
• ἰχθῠομετᾰ́βολος (ikhthuometábolos)
• ἰχθῠοπρᾱ́της (ikhthuoprā́tēs)
• ἰχθῠοπτρῐ́ς (ikhthuoptrís)
• ἰχθῠοπώλης (ikhthuopṓlēs)
• ἰχθῠόρροος (ikhthuórrhoos)
• ἰχθῠοτρόφος (ikhthuotróphos)
• ἰχθῠουλκός (ikhthuoulkós)
• ἰχθῠόφορος (ikhthuóphoros)
• ἰχθῠόφᾰγος (ikhthuóphagos)
• ἰχθῠπόρος (ikhthupóros)
• ἰχθῠπᾰγής (ikhthupagḗs)
• ἰχθῠσιληϊστήρ (ikhthusilēïstḗr)
• ἰχθῠφόνος (ikhthuphónos)
• ἰχθῠώδης (ikhthuṓdēs)
• ἰχθῠᾰγωγός (ikhthuagōgós)
• ἰχθῠᾰκός (ikhthuakós)
• ἰχθῠᾰ́ω (ikhthuáō)
• ἰχθῠ́ᾱ (ikhthúā)
• ἰχθῠῐ̈κός (ikhthuïkós)
• ἰχθῠῐ̈́ᾱ (ikhthuḯā)
• ἰχθῡ́διον (ikhthū́dion)
• κάλλιχθῠς (kállikhthus)
• πολῠ́ϊχθῠς (polúïkhthus)
• φῐ́λιχθῠς (phílikhthus)
• ᾰ̓́νιχθῠς (ánikhthus)
• ᾰ̓πιχθυόομαι (apikhthuóomai)
• ᾰ̓πιχθῠς (apikhthus)

 

Descendants

• Greek: ιχθύς (ichthýs)
• → English: ichthys

References

• ἰχθύς in Wilhelm Pape's Handwörterbuch der griechischen Sprache: Griechisch-deutsches Handwörterbuch. 1875. Vol I, pg. 582/1.

Further reading

• “ἰχθῦς”, in Liddell & Scott (1940) A Greek–English Lexicon, Oxford: Clarendon Press
• “ἰχθύς”, in Liddell & Scott (1889) An Intermediate Greek–English Lexicon, New York: Harper & Brothers
• “ἰχθύς”, in Autenrieth, Georg (1891) A Homeric Dictionary for Schools and Colleges, New York: Harper and Brothers
• ἰχθύς 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
• ἰχθύς in Cunliffe, Richard J. (1924) A Lexicon of the Homeric Dialect: Expanded Edition, Norman: University of Oklahoma Press, published 1963
• “ἰχθύς”, in Slater, William J. (1969) Lexicon to Pindar, Berlin: Walter de Gruyter
• G2486 in Strong, James (1979) Strong’s Exhaustive Concordance to the Bible
• Woodhouse, S. C. (1910) English–Greek Dictionary: A Vocabulary of the Attic Language‎^[1], London: Routledge & Kegan Paul Limited.
  • fish idem, page 323.