Sappho

Translingual

Sappho sparganurus
(red-tailed comet)

Proper noun

Sappho f

1. A taxonomic genus within the family Trochilidae – red-tailed comet.

Hypernyms

• (genus): Eukaryota – superkingdom; Animalia – kingdom; Bilateria – subkingdom; Deuterostomia – infrakingdom; Chordata – phylum; Vertebrata – subphylum; Gnathostomata – infraphylum; Reptilia – class; Aves – subclass; Neognathae – infraclass; Neoaves – superorder; Apodiformes – order; Trochilidae – family; Trochilinae - subfamily

Hyponyms

• (genus): Sappho sparganurus (red-tailed comet) - sole species

References

• Sappho (genus) on Wikipedia.Wikipedia
• Sappho on Wikispecies.Wikispecies
• Sappho (Trochilidae) on Wikimedia Commons.Wikimedia Commons
• Gill, F. and Wright, M. (2006) Birds of the World: Recommended English Names, Princeton University Press, →ISBN

English

Etymology

From Ancient Greek Σαπφώ (Sapphṓ).

Pronunciation

• (General American) IPA^(key): /ˈsæfoʊ/
• (Received Pronunciation) IPA^(key): /ˈsæfəʊ/

  • Audio (Southern England):

    (file)

Proper noun

Sappho

1. An Ancient Greek female name, particularly borne by a poetess from Lesbos who lived between 630 and 570 BC (exact dates unknown).
2. (astronomy) 80 Sappho, a main belt asteroid.
3. (rare) A female given name from Ancient Greek.

Derived terms

• Sapphic, sapphic

Translations

Greek female name

• Armenian: Սապփո (Sappʻo)
• Catalan: Safo
• Danish: Sapfo
• Dutch: Sappho
• Esperanto: Sapfo
• Finnish: Sapfo
• French: Sappho (fr)
• German: Sappho f
• Greek: Σαπφώ (el) (Sapfó)

  Ancient Greek: Σαπφώ f (Sapphṓ)

• Hebrew: סאפפו (Sappo)
• Hungarian: Szapphó
• Irish: Safó f
• Italian: Saffo (it)
• Japanese: サッポー (Sappō)
• Latin: Sapphō (la) f
• Occitan: Safo
• Polish: Safona
• Portuguese: Safo
• Russian: Сапфо́ (ru) (Sapfó), Сафо́ (Safó)
• Slovak: Sapfo f
• Spanish: Safo
• Swedish: Sapfo

Anagrams

• Paphos

Latin

Etymology

Ancient Greek Σαπφώ (Sapphṓ).

Pronunciation

• (Classical Latin) IPA^(key): /ˈsap.pʰoː/, [ˈs̠äpːʰoː]
• (modern Italianate Ecclesiastical) IPA^(key): /ˈsap.fo/, [ˈsäpfo]

Proper noun

Sapphō f sg (variously declined, genitive Sapphūs or Sapphōnis); fourth declension, third declension

1. Sappho
   • (Can we date this quote?), Plinius, Naturalis Historia, lib. XXII, cap. IX, num. 20; in: Pliny Natural History with an English translation in ten volumes Volume VI Libri XX-XXIII By W. H. S. Jones, 1951, page 308f.:

     ob hoc et Phaonem Lesbium dilectum a Sappho, multa circa hoc non Magorum solum vanitate, sed etiam Pythagoricorum.

     This, it is said, is how Phaon of Lesbos too won the love of Sappho, there being much idle trifling on this subject not only among the Magi but also among the Pythagoreans.^{d
     d} As is suggested by the punctuation of Detlefsen and Mayhoff, this sentence is taken to be part of the indirect speech, with multa ablative. With a full stop at Sappho, it could be taken as a comment of Pliny, with multa neuter plural.

   • (Can we date this quote?), Guntherus Cisterciensis, De oratione jejunio et eleemosyna libri tredecim, lib. III, cap. V; in: Patrologiae cursus completus sive bibliotheca universalis, integra, uniformis, commoda, oeconomica, omnium SS. patrum, doctorum scriptorumque ecclesiaticorum. Series secunda. Patrologiae tomus CCXII, edited by J.-P. Migne, 1855, col. 131:

     Curiose afficiunt, quae ipso auditu libidinem incitant, ut lyrica Sapphonis, elegiae Nasonis, comoediae Menandri, Plauti vel Terentii.

     (please add an English translation of this quotation)

Declension

Fourth-declension noun (all cases except the genitive singular in -ō), singular only.

	singular
nominative	Sapphō
genitive	Sapphūs
dative	—
accusative	Sapphō
ablative	Sapphō
vocative	Sapphō

• In Late Latin a genitive Sapphō is attested.
  • Hieronymus, Praefatio in Job; in: Mélanges théologiques historiques et moraux empruntés des œuvres de Saint Jérome, et traduits en français, avec le texte en regard, par F.-Z. Collombet. Tome second, 1842, p. 138:

    Quod si cui videtur incredulum, metra scilicet esse apud Hebraeos, et in morem nostri Flacci, Graecique Pindari, et Alcaei, et Sappho, vel Psalterium, vel Lamentationes Jeremiae, vel omnia ferme Scripturarum cantica comprehendi, legat Philonem, Josephum, Originem, Caesariensem Eusebium, et eorum testimonio me verum dicere comprobabit.

    And if it seem incredible to any one that the Hebrews really have metres, and that, whether we consider the Psalter or the Lamentations of Jeremiah, or almost all the songs of Scripture, they bear a resemblance to our Flaccus, and the Greek Pindar, and Alcæus, and Sappho, let him read Philo, Josephus, Origen, Eusebius of Cæsarea, and with the aid of their testimony he will find that I speak the truth. (Nicene and Post-Nicene Fathers (series II, volume 6))

In Medieval and New Latin it is also declined like this:

Third-declension noun, singular only.

	singular
nominative	Sapphō
genitive	Sapphōnis
dative	Sapphōnī
accusative	Sapphōnem
ablative	Sapphōne
vocative	Sapphō

Related terms

• Sapphicus

References

• “Sappho”, in Charlton T. Lewis and Charles Short (1879) A Latin Dictionary, Oxford: Clarendon Press