phalanx

phalanx

See also: Phalanx

English

WOTD – 4 December 2015

Bones of the hand: carpals, metacarpals and phalanges

Etymology

Borrowed from Latin phalanx or Ancient Greek φάλαγξ (phálanx, “battle order, array”). Doublet of plank.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /ˈfeɪ.ˌlæŋks/, /ˈfæ.ˌlæŋks/
• Hyphenation: pha‧lanx

• Audio (US)

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• Audio (AU)

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Noun

phalanx (plural phalanxes or phalanges)

1. (historical, plural phalanxes) An ancient Greek and Macedonian military unit that consisted of several ranks and files (lines) of soldiers in close array with joined shields and long spears.
2. (historical sociology) A Fourierite utopian community; a phalanstery.
   • 2009 April 16, Jon Mooallem, “The End Is Near! (Yay!)”, in The New York Times‎, ISSN 0362-4331:

     [Charles Fourier] calculated that if precisely 1,620 men, women and children were collected in a 6,000-acre phalanx, they would — all by merrily following their individual passions — end up satisfying all the phalanx’s essential needs.

3. (plural phalanxes) A large group of people, animals or things, compact or closely massed, or tightly knit and united in common purpose.
   • 1886 October – 1887 January, H[enry] Rider Haggard, She: A History of Adventure, London: Longmans, Green, and Co., published 1887, OCLC 1167497017:

     But there was no man to greet them in the market-place, and no woman's face appeared at the windows - only a bodiless voice went before them, calling: "Fallen is Imperial Kôr! - fallen! - fallen! fallen!" On, right through the city, marched those gleaming phalanxes, and the rattle of their bony tread echoed through the silent air as they pressed grimly on.

   • 2007 April 25, Hélène Mulholland, “Blair refuses to condemn FoI bill”, in The Guardian‎, London, archived from the original on 3 October 2014:

     The Guardian today listed a phalanx of ministers who back the bill, including Tessa Jowell, the culture secretary, Tony McNulty, the policing minister, Andy Burnham, the junior health minister, Ian Pearson, the climate change minister, John Healey, the financial secretary to the Treasury, and Keith Hill, parliamentary private secretary to Tony Blair.

   • 2007 May 6, Sean O'Hagan, “The day I thought would never come: This week, Ian Paisley and Martin McGuinness will astonish those who experienced the Troubles”, in The Guardian‎, London, archived from the original on 3 October 2014:

     There, the Paisleyites were being held back by another phalanx of soldiers and policemen.

4. (anatomy, plural phalanges) One of the bones of the finger or toe.

Synonyms

• (anatomy, bone of the finger or toe): phalange

Derived terms

• distal phalanx
• intermediate phalanx
• middle phalanx
• phalangeal
• proximal phalanx

 

Translations

ancient Greek military unit

Albanian: falang m Old Albanian: tufë trima (sq) Armenian: փաղանգ (hy) (pʿałang) Belarusian: фала́нга f (falánha) Bulgarian: фаланга (bg) f (falanga) Catalan: falange (ca) f Chinese: Mandarin: 方陣／方阵 (zh) (fāngzhèn) Czech: falanga (cs) f Danish: falanks c Dutch: falanx (nl) Esperanto: falango Finnish: falangi (fi) French: phalange (fr) f Galician: falanxe (gl) f German: Phalanx (de) f Greek: φάλαγγα (el) f (fálanga) Ancient: φάλαγξ f (phálanx) Icelandic: kjúka (is) f Irish: falang m Italian: falange (it) f Japanese: ファランクス (farankusu) Macedonian: фаланга f (falanga) Polish: falanga (pl) f Portuguese: falange (pt) f Romanian: falangă (ro) f Russian: фала́нга (ru) f (falánga) Serbo-Croatian: Cyrillic: фаланга f Roman: falanga (sh) f Slovene: falanga f Spanish: falange (es) f Swedish: falang (sv) c Ukrainian: фала́нга (uk) f (falánha) Vietnamese: phalanx (vi)

finger or toe bone

Arabic: سُلَامَى‎ m (sulāmā), سُلَامِيَّة‎ f (sulāmiyya) Armenian: մատնահատված (matnahatvac) Belarusian: фала́нга f (falánha) Bulgarian: фала́нга (bg) f (falánga) Catalan: falange (ca) f Chinese: Mandarin: 指骨 (zh) (zhǐgǔ), (toe bone) 趾骨 (zhǐgǔ) Czech: článek prstu m Danish: falanks c Dutch: kootje (nl) n Esperanto: falango Finnish: varpaanluu (toe), sormiluu (fi) (finger) French: phalange (fr) f Galician: falanxe (gl) f German: Fingerglied n, (toe bone) Zehenglied n Greek: φάλαγγα (el) f (fálanga) Hebrew: גָּלִיל‎ (he) m (galíl) Icelandic: kjúka (is) f Irish: falang m Italian: falange (it) f Japanese: 指骨 (しこつ, shikotsu), (toe bone) 趾骨 (しこつ, shikotsu) Korean: 지골 (jigol) Kurdish: Northern Kurdish: hestiyên pêçiyê, hestiyên tilîyê Macedonian: фаланга f (falanga) Malay: falanks Maori: iwi mati Norwegian: Bokmål: falang m Occitan: falanja f Polish: paliczek (pl) m Portuguese: falange (pt) f Romanian: falangă (ro) f Russian: фала́нга (ru) f (falánga), суста́в па́льца m (sustáv pálʹca) Serbo-Croatian: Cyrillic: фаланга f Roman: falanga (sh) f Slovak: článok prstu m Spanish: falange (es) f Swedish: falang (sv) c Ukrainian: фала́нга (uk) f (falánha) Volapük: (finger) doatabomil, (toe) teanabomil Welsh: ffalang m or f

large group of animals, plants, or people

Italian: orda (it) f

large group of people

Catalan: falange (ca) f Finnish: falangi (fi) Greek: φάλαγγα (el) f (fálanga) Italian: orda (it) f Macedonian: фаланга f (falanga) Russian: фала́нга (ru) f (falánga) Serbo-Croatian: Cyrillic: фаланга f Roman: falanga (sh) f

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Latin

Alternative forms

• falanx (later form)

Etymology

From Ancient Greek φάλαγξ (phálanx). Compare Latin phalanga.

Pronunciation

• (Classical) IPA^(key): /ˈpʰa.lanks/, [ˈpʰäɫ̪äŋks̠]
• (Ecclesiastical) IPA^(key): /ˈfa.lanks/, [ˈfäːläŋks]

Noun

phalanx f (genitive phalangis); third declension

1. phalanx, battalion

Declension

Third-declension noun.

Case	Singular	Plural
Nominative	phalanx	phalangēs
Genitive	phalangis	phalangum
Dative	phalangī	phalangibus
Accusative	phalangem	phalangēs
Ablative	phalange	phalangibus
Vocative	phalanx	phalangēs

Related terms

• phalanga

Descendants

• Catalan: falange
• English: phalanx, phalange
• French: phalange
• Italian: falange
• Portuguese: falange
• Spanish: falange

References

• “phalanx”, in Charlton T. Lewis and Charles Short (1879) A Latin Dictionary, Oxford: Clarendon Press
• “phalanx”, in Charlton T. Lewis (1891) An Elementary Latin Dictionary, New York: Harper & Brothers
• phalanx in Gaffiot, Félix (1934) Dictionnaire illustré latin-français, Hachette
• Carl Meißner; Henry William Auden (1894) Latin Phrase-Book‎, London: Macmillan and Co.
  • to form a phalanx: phalangem facere (B. G. 1. 24)
    
  • to break through the phalanx: phalangem perfringere
    
• “phalanx”, in Harry Thurston Peck, editor (1898) Harper's Dictionary of Classical Antiquities, New York: Harper & Brothers
• “phalanx”, in William Smith et al., editor (1890) A Dictionary of Greek and Roman Antiquities, London: William Wayte. G. E. Marindin