γρύψ

Ancient Greek

Etymology

Uncertain. Commonly linked to γρυπός (grupós, “curved”), which is from Proto-Indo-European *ger- (“to turn, twist, bend, wind”), related to Old English crumb, crump (“bent, crooked”), Old High German krump.

Beekes and Klein dismiss an Indo-European origin and instead suggest Pre-Greek; possibly borrowed via Hittite or some other Anatolian medium from a Semitic word related to Akkadian 𒅗𒆕𒁍 (karūbu) and Hebrew כרוב (kerúv), in which case a doublet of χερούβ (kheroúb).

Pronunciation

 

• IPA^(key): /ɡry̌ːps/ → /ɣryps/ → /ɣrips/

• (5^th BCE Attic) IPA^(key): /ɡry̌ːps/
• (1^st CE Egyptian) IPA^(key): /ɡryps/
• (4^th CE Koine) IPA^(key): /ɣryps/
• (10^th CE Byzantine) IPA^(key): /ɣryps/
• (15^th CE Constantinopolitan) IPA^(key): /ɣrips/

Noun

γρῡ́ψ • (grū́ps) m (genitive γρῡπός); third declension

1. griffin
   • 460 BCE – 420 BCE, Herodotus, Histories 3.116, (compare Aeschylus, Prometheus Bound 395)

Inflection

Third declension of ὁ γρῡ́ψ; τοῦ γρῡπός (Attic)

Case / #	Singular	Dual	Plural
Nominative	ὁ γρῡ́ψ ho grū́ps	τὼ γρῦπε tṑ grûpe	οἱ γρῦπες hoi grûpes
Genitive	τοῦ γρῡπός toû grūpós	τοῖν γρῡποῖν toîn grūpoîn	τῶν γρῡπῶν tôn grūpôn
Dative	τῷ γρῡπῐ́ tôi grūpí	τοῖν γρῡποῖν toîn grūpoîn	τοῖς γρῡψῐ́ / γρῡψῐ́ν toîs grūpsí(n)
Accusative	τὸν γρῦπᾰ tòn grûpa	τὼ γρῦπε tṑ grûpe	τοὺς γρῦπᾰς toùs grûpas
Vocative	γρῡ́ψ grū́ps	γρῦπε grûpe	γρῦπες grûpes
Notes:	This table gives Attic inflectional endings. For declension in other dialects, see Appendix:Ancient Greek dialectal declension.

Descendants

• Greek: γρύπας (grýpas)
• → Latin: grȳps (see there for further descendants)
• → Russian: грифо́н (grifón)

Further reading

• “γρύψ”, in Liddell & Scott (1940) A Greek–English Lexicon, Oxford: Clarendon Press
• “γρύψ”, in Liddell & Scott (1889) An Intermediate Greek–English Lexicon, New York: Harper & Brothers
• γρύψ in Bailly, Anatole (1935) Le Grand Bailly: Dictionnaire grec-français, Paris: Hachette
• γρύψ in the Diccionario Griego–Español en línea (2006–2024)
• Woodhouse, S. C. (1910) English–Greek Dictionary: A Vocabulary of the Attic Language‎^[1], London: Routledge & Kegan Paul Limited.
  • griffin idem, page 373.
  • gryphon idem, page 376.
• Beekes, Robert S. P. (2010) Etymological Dictionary of Greek (Leiden Indo-European Etymological Dictionary Series; 10), with the assistance of Lucien van Beek, Leiden, Boston: Brill, →ISBN
• Klein, Dr. Ernest, A Comprehensive Etymological Dictionary of the English Language