κλῖμαξ

Ancient Greek

Etymology

From κλῑ́νω (klī́nō, “I bend, lean”).

Pronunciation

 

• IPA^(key): /klîː.maks/ → /ˈkli.maks/ → /ˈkli.maks/

• (5^th BCE Attic) IPA^(key): /klîː.maks/
• (1^st CE Egyptian) IPA^(key): /ˈkli.maks/
• (4^th CE Koine) IPA^(key): /ˈkli.maks/
• (10^th CE Byzantine) IPA^(key): /ˈkli.maks/
• (15^th CE Constantinopolitan) IPA^(key): /ˈkli.maks/

Noun

κλῖμᾰξ • (klîmax) f (genitive κλῑ́μᾰκος); third declension

1. ladder
2. staircase
3. torture instrument shaped like a ladder
4. a certain wrestling move
5. (rhetoric) climax
6. the blocks of wood placed above the wheels of a chariot

Inflection

Case / #	Singular	Dual	Plural
Nominative	ἡ κλῖμᾰξ hē klîmax	τὼ κλῑ́μᾰκε tṑ klī́make	αἱ κλῑ́μᾰκες hai klī́makes
Genitive	τῆς κλῑ́μᾰκος tês klī́makos	τοῖν κλῑμᾰ́κοιν toîn klīmákoin	τῶν κλῑμᾰ́κων tôn klīmákōn
Dative	τῇ κλῑ́μᾰκῐ têi klī́maki	τοῖν κλῑμᾰ́κοιν toîn klīmákoin	ταῖς κλῑ́μᾰξῐ / κλῑ́μᾰξῐν taîs klī́maxi(n)
Accusative	τὴν κλῑ́μᾰκᾰ tḕn klī́maka	τὼ κλῑ́μᾰκε tṑ klī́make	τᾱ̀ς κλῑ́μᾰκᾰς tā̀s klī́makas
Vocative	κλῖμᾰξ klîmax	κλῑ́μᾰκε klī́make	κλῑ́μᾰκες klī́makes
Notes:	This table gives Attic inflectional endings. For declension in other dialects, see Appendix:Ancient Greek dialectal declension.

Third declension of ἡ κλῖμᾰξ; τῆς κλῑ́μᾰκος (Attic)

Derived terms

• κλῑμᾰκῐ́ζω (klīmakízō)
• κλῑμᾰ́κιον (klīmákion)
• κλῑμᾰκῐ́ς (klīmakís)
• κλῑμᾰκοειδής (klīmakoeidḗs)
• κλῑμᾰκόεις (klīmakóeis)
• κλῑμᾰκοφόρος (klīmakophóros)
• κλῑμᾰκτήρ (klīmaktḗr)
• κλῑμᾰκώδης (klīmakṓdēs)
• κλῑμᾰκωτός (klīmakōtós)

 

Descendants

• Greek: κλίμακα (klímaka)
• → Latin: clīmax

References

• “κλῖμαξ”, in Liddell & Scott (1940) A Greek–English Lexicon, Oxford: Clarendon Press
• “κλῖμαξ”, in Liddell & Scott (1889) An Intermediate Greek–English Lexicon, New York: Harper & Brothers
• “κλῖμαξ”, in Autenrieth, Georg (1891) A Homeric Dictionary for Schools and Colleges, New York: Harper and Brothers
• κλῖμαξ in Bailly, Anatole (1935) Le Grand Bailly: Dictionnaire grec-français, Paris: Hachette
• κλῖμαξ in Cunliffe, Richard J. (1924) A Lexicon of the Homeric Dialect: Expanded Edition, Norman: University of Oklahoma Press, published 1963
• “κλῖμαξ”, in Slater, William J. (1969) Lexicon to Pindar, Berlin: Walter de Gruyter
• κλῖμαξ in Trapp, Erich, et al. (1994–2007) Lexikon zur byzantinischen Gräzität besonders des 9.-12. Jahrhunderts [the Lexicon of Byzantine Hellenism, Particularly the 9th–12th Centuries], Verlag der Österreichischen Akademie der Wissenschaften
• Woodhouse, S. C. (1910) English–Greek Dictionary: A Vocabulary of the Attic Language‎, London: Routledge & Kegan Paul Limited.
  • gangway idem, page 353.
  • ladder idem, page 473.
  • plank idem, page 617.
  • scaling idem, page 737.
  • staircase idem, page 809.