αβγό

Greek

Alternative forms

αυγό (avgó)

Etymology

Back-formation from the plural αβγά (avgá), itself extracted from τ' αβγά (t' avgá, “the eggs”), a regular phonological development of Ancient Greek τὰ ᾠά (tà ōiá):

/ta.oˈa/ → /tau̯ˈa/ → /tau̯ˈɣa/ → /tavˈɣa/.

Ultimately from Proto-Indo-European *h₂ōwyóm via Proto-Hellenic *ōyyón.

Pronunciation

IPA^(key): /aˈvɣo/
Hyphenation: α‧βγό

Noun

αβγό • (avgó) n (plural αβγά)

(zoology) egg (spherical or ellipsoidal body produced by birds, reptiles, insects and other animals, housing the embryo during its development)
Το αβγό της χελώνας είναι μικρό και ολοστρόγγυλο.
To avgó tis chelónas eínai mikró kai olostróngylo.
A turtle's egg is small and totally round.
(more specifically) egg (of a hen, used as food)
Για να φτιάξεις μπισκότα χρειάζεσαι αβγά, αλεύρι και βούτυρο.
Gia na ftiáxeis biskóta chreiázesai avgá, alévri kai voútyro.
To make biscuits, you need eggs, flour and butter.
(figuratively) egg (anything shaped like an egg)
Το Πάσχα στην Ευρώπη τρώνε σοκολατένια αβγά.
To Páscha stin Evrópi tróne sokolaténia avgá.
At Easter in Europe, chocolate eggs are eaten.
(biology) egg, ovum (female primary cell)
Synonym: ωάριο (oário)
Δύο άντρες χρειάζονται το αβγό μιας γυναίκας για να έχουν ένα παιδί.
Dýo ántres chreiázontai to avgó mias gynaíkas gia na échoun éna paidí.
Two men need a woman's egg to have a child.

Usage notes

Spelling: In accordance with Georgios Hatzidakis and Manolis Triantafyllidis, Babiniotis considers αβγό the correct spelling:
The ‑β‑ in the word originated from phonetic development and there is no justification for writing it with the diphthong ‑αυ‑, as though it has always existed in the word.[1]

The αυγό spelling is found in other dictionaries[2]. (Similarly: αφτί ~ αυτί (aftí, “ear”)).

Declension

declension of αβγό

case \\ number	singular	plural
nominative	αβγό •	αβγά •
genitive	αβγού •	αβγών •
accusative	αβγό •	αβγά •
vocative	αβγό •	αβγά •

Derived terms

αβγουλάκι n (avgouláki) (diminutive)
αβγούλι n (avgoúli) (diminutive)
αβγοειδής (avgoeidís, “egg shaped”)
αβγουλιέρα f (avgouliéra, “egg cup”)
αβγότσουφλο (avgótsouflo, “egg shell”)
αβγουλωτός (avgoulotós, “egg shaped”)
αβγοθήκη f (avgothíki, “egg cup”)

βραστό αβγό n (vrastó avgó, “boiled egg”)
αβγολέμονο n (avgolémono, “egg and lemon sauce”)
αβγοτάραχο n (avgotáracho, “fish roe”)
αβγό μάτι n (avgó máti, “fried egg”)
αβγό ποσέ n (avgó posé, “poached egg”)
αυγοσαλάτα f (avgosaláta, “egg salad”)
κόκκινο αβγό n (kókkino avgó, “red egg”) (Easter tradition)
μελάτο αβγό n (meláto avgó, “soft-boiled egg”)
σφιχτό αβγό n (sfichtó avgó, “hard-boiled egg”)
τηγανητό αβγό n (tiganitó avgó, “fried egg”)
χτυπητά αβγά n pl (chtypitá avgá, “scrambled eggs”)

χρυσό αβγό (chrysó avgó, “golden goose”, literally “golden egg”)
ακόμη δεν βγήκε απ' τ' αβγό (akómi den vgíke ap' t' avgó, “don't try to teach grandma how to suck eggs”, literally “he/she's not even out of the egg yet”)
χάνω τ' αβγά και τα καλάθια (cháno t' avgá kai ta kaláthia, “to lose everything, to lose one's mind”, literally “lose the eggs and the baskets”)
χάνω τ' αβγά και τα πασχάλια (cháno t' avgá kai ta paschália, “to lose everything, to lose one's mind”, literally “lose the eggs and the calendar”)
κάθομαι στ' αβγά μου (káthomai st' avgá mou, “to mind one's own business, to not get involved”, literally “sit on one's eggs”)
σιγά τ' αβγά (sigá t' avgá, “as if, give me a break”, literally “slowly the eggs (so they won't break)”)
αβγά κουρεύουμε; (avgá kourévoume?, “Do you think I'm/we're stupid?”, literally “Are we shaving eggs?”)
πιάσ' τ' αβγό και κούρευ' το (piás' t' avgó kai koúref' to, “get blood out of a stone”, literally “Catch the egg and shave it”)
παίρνω με τ' αβγά (paírno me t' avgá, “to egg someone”, literally “take them with the eggs”)
το αβγό του Κολόμβου (to avgó tou Kolómvou, “egg of Columbus”)
αβγά σού καθαρίζουν; (avgá soú katharízoun?, “Why are you laughing? What's so funny?”, literally “Are they cleaning your eggs?”)

References

Georgios Babiniotis (2008), “αβγό”, in Λεξικό της νέας ελληνικής γλώσσας: […] [Dictionary of the New Greek Language] (in Greek), 3rd edition, Athens: Kentro Lexikologias, →ISBN.
αυγό - Λεξικό της κοινής νεοελληνικής [Dictionary of Standard Modern Greek], 1998, by the "Triantafyllidis" Foundation.