Pnyx

English

WOTD – 8 November 2022

Etymology

The orators’ bema or platform of the Pnyx in Athens, Greece.

Borrowed from Ancient Greek Πνύξ (Pnúx); since ancient times it has been claimed the word is derived from πυκνός (puknós, “close-packed; dense; thick”), possibly from Proto-Indo-European *puḱ- (“to press together”), but the Oxford English Dictionary considers this a folk etymology with no evidence supporting it.[1]

Pronunciation

(Received Pronunciation, General American) IPA^(key): /ˈnɪks/, /ˈpnɪks/
Audio (Southern England) (file)
Homophones: nicks, nix, Nyx (one pronunciation)
Rhymes: -ɪks

Proper noun

Pnyx

(Ancient Greece, historical) A hill in Athens west of the Acropolis with a stone platform and steps set into its side, which was used as the meeting place of the democratic assembly in Ancient Greece.

Translations

hill in Athens west of the Acropolis

Arabic: بنيكس‎ ?
Bulgarian: Пникс (Pniks)
Chinese:
Mandarin: 普尼克斯 (Pǔníkèsī)
Corsican: Pnici
Dutch: Pnyx
Esperanto: Pniko
Finnish: Pnyks
French: Pnyx (fr) m or f
German: Pnyx m
Greek: Πνύκα (el) f (Pnýka)
Ancient Greek: Πνύξ f (Pnúx)
Hebrew: פְּנִיקְס‎ f (pniks)
Hungarian: Pnüx
Italian: Pnice ?
Japanese: プニュクス
Korean: 프닉스 (peunikseu)
Polish: Pnyks m
Portuguese: Pnyx ?
Russian: Пникс m (Pniks)
Turkish: Pniks
Ukrainian: Пнікс ? (Pniks)

References

“Pnyx, n.”, in OED Online ⁠, Oxford, Oxfordshire: Oxford University Press, March 2022.