θηλή

Ancient Greek

Etymology

From Proto-Indo-European *dʰeh₁-léh₁-, from *dʰeh₁(y)- (“to suck, suckle”).^[1]

Pronunciation

 

• IPA^(key): /tʰɛː.lɛ̌ː/ → /θiˈli/ → /θiˈli/

• (5^th BCE Attic) IPA^(key): /tʰɛː.lɛ̌ː/
• (1^st CE Egyptian) IPA^(key): /tʰe̝ˈle̝/
• (4^th CE Koine) IPA^(key): /θiˈli/
• (10^th CE Byzantine) IPA^(key): /θiˈli/
• (15^th CE Constantinopolitan) IPA^(key): /θiˈli/

Noun

θηλή • (thēlḗ) f (genitive θηλῆς); first declension

1. a teat, a nipple
   • 480 BCE – 406 BCE, Euripides, Cyclops 56
   • 460 BCE – 370 BCE, Hippocrates, Epidemics 5.101
   • 386 BCE – 367 BCE, Plato, Cratylus 414a
   • 384 BCE – 322 BCE, Aristotle, History of Animals 493a.13
   • 384 BCE – 322 BCE, Aristotle, History of Animals 500a.24
   • 50 CE – 150 CE, Soranus, Collected Works 1.115
2. the head of a pole
   • PLond. 3.1164h.9

Declension

Case / #	Singular	Dual	Plural
Nominative	ἡ θηλή hē thēlḗ	τὼ θηλᾱ́ tṑ thēlā́	αἱ θηλαί hai thēlaí
Genitive	τῆς θηλῆς tês thēlês	τοῖν θηλαῖν toîn thēlaîn	τῶν θηλῶν tôn thēlôn
Dative	τῇ θηλῇ têi thēlêi	τοῖν θηλαῖν toîn thēlaîn	ταῖς θηλαῖς taîs thēlaîs
Accusative	τὴν θηλήν tḕn thēlḗn	τὼ θηλᾱ́ tṑ thēlā́	τᾱ̀ς θηλᾱ́ς tā̀s thēlā́s
Vocative	θηλή thēlḗ	θηλᾱ́ thēlā́	θηλαί thēlaí
Notes:	This table gives Attic inflectional endings. For declension in other dialects, see Appendix:Ancient Greek dialectal declension.

First declension of ἡ θηλή; τῆς θηλῆς (Attic)

Descendants

• Greek: θηλή (thilí)

References

1. Beekes, Robert S. P. (2010) “θηλή”, in Etymological Dictionary of Greek (Leiden Indo-European Etymological Dictionary Series; 10), with the assistance of Lucien van Beek, Leiden, Boston: Brill, →ISBN, page 546

Further reading

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

Greek

Etymology

From Ancient Greek θηλή (thēlḗ).

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): [θiˈli]
• Hyphenation: θη‧λή

Noun

θηλή • (thilí) f (plural θηλές)

1. (anatomy) nipple, teat

Declension

Declension of θηλή

	singular	plural
nominative	θηλή (thilí)	θηλές (thilés)
genitive	θηλής (thilís)	θηλών (thilón)
accusative	θηλή (thilí)	θηλές (thilés)
vocative	θηλή (thilí)	θηλές (thilés)

Synonyms

• ρώγα f (róga) (less formal)