κήξ

Ancient Greek

Alternative forms

• καύαξ (kaúax), καύηξ (kaúēx), κῆϋξ (kêüx)

Etymology

Has been compared with bird names like Middle Welsh cuan (“screech-owl”) and other Celtic words, whence Latin cāvannus (“tawny owl”). Within Greek, one also finds forms with internal velar, like καυκαλίας (kaukalías, “kind of bird”), with which are compared Lithuanian kaukȳs (“kind of bird”) and primary verbs like Sanskrit कौति (kauti, “to cry, hum”) and Lithuanian kaūkti (“to howl, moan”). However, according to Beekes, the word is Pre-Greek, in view of the suffix.

Pronunciation

 

• IPA^(key): /kɛ̌ːks/ → /ciks/ → /ciks/

• (5^th BCE Attic) IPA^(key): /kɛ̌ːks/
• (1^st CE Egyptian) IPA^(key): /ke̝ks/
• (4^th CE Koine) IPA^(key): /ciks/
• (10^th CE Byzantine) IPA^(key): /ciks/
• (15^th CE Constantinopolitan) IPA^(key): /ciks/

Noun

κήξ • (kḗx) f (genitive κηκός); third declension

1. sea swallow, tern (Sterna hirundo)

Declension

Third declension of ἡ κήξ; τῆς κηκός (Attic)

Case / #	Singular	Dual	Plural
Nominative	ἡ κήξ hē kḗx	τὼ κῆκε tṑ kêke	αἱ κῆκες hai kêkes
Genitive	τῆς κηκός tês kēkós	τοῖν κηκοῖν toîn kēkoîn	τῶν κηκῶν tôn kēkôn
Dative	τῇ κηκῐ́ têi kēkí	τοῖν κηκοῖν toîn kēkoîn	ταῖς κηξῐ́ / κηξῐ́ν taîs kēxí(n)
Accusative	τὴν κῆκᾰ tḕn kêka	τὼ κῆκε tṑ kêke	τᾱ̀ς κῆκᾰς tā̀s kêkas
Vocative	κήξ kḗx	κῆκε kêke	κῆκες kêkes
Notes:	This table gives Attic inflectional endings. For declension in other dialects, see Appendix:Ancient Greek dialectal declension.

Further reading

• “κήξ”, in Liddell & Scott (1940) A Greek–English Lexicon, Oxford: Clarendon Press
• “κήξ”, in Liddell & Scott (1889) An Intermediate Greek–English Lexicon, New York: Harper & Brothers
• “κήξ”, in Autenrieth, Georg (1891) A Homeric Dictionary for Schools and Colleges, New York: Harper and Brothers
• κήξ in Bailly, Anatole (1935) Le Grand Bailly: Dictionnaire grec-français, Paris: Hachette
• κήξ in Cunliffe, Richard J. (1924) A Lexicon of the Homeric Dialect: Expanded Edition, Norman: University of Oklahoma Press, published 1963
• Beekes, Robert S. P. (2010) “καύαξ”, in Etymological Dictionary of Greek (Leiden Indo-European Etymological Dictionary Series; 10), with the assistance of Lucien van Beek, Leiden, Boston: Brill, →ISBN, pages 658–659