νέκυς

Ancient Greek

Alternative forms

• νέκυρ (nékur) — Laconian

Etymology

From Proto-Indo-European *neḱ- (“perish, disappear”); see also Middle Welsh angheu (“death”); Breton ankou; Old Irish éc; Latin noxius (“harmful”), noceō (“I hurt, harm”), and nex (“murder, violent death”) (as opposed to mors); Old Persian 𐎻𐎴𐎰𐎹𐎫𐎹 (vi-n-θ-y-t-y /⁠vi-nathayatiy⁠/, “he injures”); Avestan 𐬥𐬀𐬯𐬌𐬌𐬈𐬌𐬙𐬌 (nasiieⁱti, “disappears”), 𐬥𐬀𐬯𐬎- (nasu-, “corpse”); Sanskrit नश्यति (naśyati, “disappear, perish”).

Pronunciation

(Homeric)

 

• IPA^(key): /né.kyːs/ → /ˈne.cys/ → /ˈne.cis/

• (5^th BCE Attic) IPA^(key): /né.kyːs/
• (1^st CE Egyptian) IPA^(key): /ˈne.kys/
• (4^th CE Koine) IPA^(key): /ˈne.cys/
• (10^th CE Byzantine) IPA^(key): /ˈne.cys/
• (15^th CE Constantinopolitan) IPA^(key): /ˈne.cis/

(later poetry)

 

• IPA^(key): /né.kys/ → /ˈne.cys/ → /ˈne.cis/

• (5^th BCE Attic) IPA^(key): /né.kys/
• (1^st CE Egyptian) IPA^(key): /ˈne.kys/
• (4^th CE Koine) IPA^(key): /ˈne.cys/
• (10^th CE Byzantine) IPA^(key): /ˈne.cys/
• (15^th CE Constantinopolitan) IPA^(key): /ˈne.cis/

Noun

νέκῡς or νέκῠς • (nékūs or nékus) m (genitive νέκῠος); third declension

1. corpse, dead person
2. (in the plural) spirits of the dead
3. (attributive) dead, deceased

Declension

Case / #	Singular	Dual	Plural
Nominative	νέκῡς nékūs	νέκῠε nékue	νέκῠες nékues
Genitive	νέκῠος nékuos	νεκῠ́οιῐν nekúoiin	νεκῠ́ων nekúōn
Dative	νέκῠῐ̈ / νέκυι nékuï / nékui	νεκῠ́οιῐν nekúoiin	νεκῠ́εσσῐ / νεκῠ́εσσῐν / νέκῡσῐ / νέκῡσῐν / νέκῡσσῐ / νέκῡσσῐν nekúessi(n) / nékūsi(n) / nékūssi(n)
Accusative	νέκῡν nékūn	νέκῠε nékue	νέκῡς / νέκῠᾰς nékūs / nékuas
Vocative	νέκῡ nékū	νέκῠε nékue	νέκῠες nékues
Notes:	Dialects other than Attic are not well attested. Some forms may be based on conjecture. Use with caution.

Third declension of νέκῡς; νέκῠος (Epic)

Case / #	Singular	Dual	Plural
Nominative	ὁ νέκῠς ho nékus	τὼ νέκῠε tṑ nékue	οἱ νέκῠες hoi nékues
Genitive	τοῦ νέκῠος toû nékuos	τοῖν νεκῠ́οιν toîn nekúoin	τῶν νεκῠ́ων tôn nekúōn
Dative	τῷ νέκῠῐ̈ / νέκυι tôi nékuï / nékui	τοῖν νεκῠ́οιν toîn nekúoin	τοῖς νέκῠσῐ / νέκῠσῐν toîs nékusi(n)
Accusative	τὸν νέκῠν tòn nékun	τὼ νέκῠε tṑ nékue	τοὺς νέκῡς / νέκῠᾰς toùs nékūs / nékuas
Vocative	νέκῠ néku	νέκῠε nékue	νέκῠες nékues
Notes:	This table gives Attic inflectional endings. For declension in other dialects, see Appendix:Ancient Greek dialectal declension.

Third declension of ὁ νέκῠς; τοῦ νέκῠος (Attic)

Derived terms

• νεκυαγωγή (nekuagōgḗ)
• νεκυαγωγός (nekuagōgós)
• νεκυάμβατος (nekuámbatos)
• νεκυδαίμων (nekudaímōn)
• νεκύδαλος (nekúdalos)
• νεκυηγός (nekuēgós)
• νεκυηδόν (nekuēdón)
• νεκυηπόλος (nekuēpólos)
• νέκυια (nékuia)
• νεκυϊκός (nekuïkós)
• νεκυϊσμός (nekuïsmós)
• νεκυοδαίμων (nekuodaímōn)
• νεκυομαντεία (nekuomanteía)
• νεκυομαντεῖον (nekuomanteîon)
• νεκυομαντικός (nekuomantikós)
• νεκυόμαντις (nekuómantis)
• νεκυοπομπός (nekuopompós)
• νεκυοστόλος (nekuostólos)
• νεκύσια (nekúsia)
• Νεκύσιος (Nekúsios)
• νεκυσσόος (nekussóos)
• νεκυώριον (nekuṓrion)

Related terms

• νεκρός (nekrós)

References

• “νέκυς”, in Liddell & Scott (1940) A Greek–English Lexicon, Oxford: Clarendon Press
• “νέκυς”, in Liddell & Scott (1889) An Intermediate Greek–English Lexicon, New York: Harper & Brothers
• “νέκυς”, in Autenrieth, Georg (1891) A Homeric Dictionary for Schools and Colleges, New York: Harper and Brothers
• νέκυς in Bailly, Anatole (1935) Le Grand Bailly: Dictionnaire grec-français, Paris: Hachette
• νέκυς in Cunliffe, Richard J. (1924) A Lexicon of the Homeric Dialect: Expanded Edition, Norman: University of Oklahoma Press, published 1963
• “νέκυς”, 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.
  • body idem, page 87.
  • carrion idem, page 115.
  • corpse idem, page 174.
  • dead idem, page 197.