ζειά

Ancient Greek

FWOTD – 9 January 2024

Etymology

From Proto-Hellenic *dzeyyā́, from Proto-Indo-European *yéwos (“barley, cereal”). Compare Persian جو (jow, “barley, rye”).

Pronunciation

 

• IPA^(key): /zdeː.ǎː/ → /ziˈa/ → /ziˈa/

• (5^th BCE Attic) IPA^(key): /zdeː.ǎː/
• (1^st CE Egyptian) IPA^(key): /ziˈa/
• (4^th CE Koine) IPA^(key): /ziˈa/
• (10^th CE Byzantine) IPA^(key): /ziˈa/
• (15^th CE Constantinopolitan) IPA^(key): /ziˈa/

Noun

ζειᾱ́ • (zeiā́) f (genitive ζειᾱ́ς); first declension (almost always in the plural, Epic, Attic)

1. einkorn wheat, Triticum monococcum, used as fodder for horses
   • 800 BCE – 600 BCE, Homer, Odyssey 4.41:

     πὰρ δ’ ἔβαλον ζειάς, ἀνὰ δὲ κρῖ λευκὸν ἔμειξαν

     pàr d’ ébalon zeiás, anà dè krî leukòn émeixan

     They threw down spelt, and mixed gray barley with it

   • 460 BCE – 420 BCE, Herodotus, Histories 2.36:

     ἀπὸ πυρῶν καὶ κριθέων ὧλλοι ζώουσι, Αἰγυπτίων δὲ τῷ ποιευμένῳ ἀπὸ τούτων τὴν ζόην ὄνειδος μέγιστον ἐστί, ἀλλὰ ἀπὸ ὀλυρέων ποιεῦνται σιτία, τὰς ζειὰς μετεξέτεροι καλέουσι.

     apò purôn kaì krithéōn hôlloi zṓousi, Aiguptíōn dè tôi poieuménōi apò toútōn tḕn zóēn óneidos mégiston estí, allà apò oluréōn poieûntai sitía, tàs zeiàs metexéteroi kaléousi.

     • 1910 translation by George Rawlinson

       [O]thers make barley and wheat their food; it is a disgrace to do so in Egypt, where the grain they live on is spelt, which some call ["zeiā́"].

   • 430 BCE – 354 BCE, Xenophon, Anabasis 5.4.27:

     τὸν δὲ νέον σῖτον ξὺν τῇ καλάμῃ ἀποκείμενον· ἦσαν δὲ ζειαὶ αἱ πλεῖσται.

     tòn dè néon sîton xùn têi kalámēi apokeímenon; êsan dè zeiaì hai pleîstai.

     • 1890 translation by H. G. Dakyns

       [B]ut the new corn was laid up apart with the straw-stalk and ear together, and this was for the most part spelt.

2. (rare) spelt (Triticum spelta)
   • 371 BCE – 287 BCE, Theophrastus, HP8. 9.2

Declension

Case / #	Singular	Dual	Plural
Nominative	ἡ ζειᾱ́ hē zeiā́	τὼ ζειᾱ́ tṑ zeiā́	αἱ ζειαί hai zeiaí
Genitive	τῆς ζειᾶς tês zeiâs	τοῖν ζειαῖν toîn zeiaîn	τῶν ζειῶν tôn zeiôn
Dative	τῇ ζειᾷ têi zeiâi	τοῖν ζειαῖν toîn zeiaîn	ταῖς ζειαῖς taîs zeiaîs
Accusative	τὴν ζειᾱ́ν tḕn zeiā́n	τὼ ζειᾱ́ tṑ zeiā́	τᾱ̀ς ζειᾱ́ς tā̀s zeiā́s
Vocative	ζειᾱ́ zeiā́	ζειᾱ́ zeiā́	ζειαί zeiaí
Notes:	This table gives Attic inflectional endings. For declension in other dialects, see Appendix:Ancient Greek dialectal declension.

First declension of ἡ ζειᾱ́; τῆς ζειᾶς (Attic)

Derived terms

• ζείδωρος (zeídōros)

Descendants

• → Latin: zēa
  • → English: zea, ⇒ zein
  • → Italian: zea
  • → Translingual: Zea

Further reading

• “ζειά”, in Liddell & Scott (1940) A Greek–English Lexicon, Oxford: Clarendon Press