κόκκυξ

Ancient Greek

Etymology

From Proto-Hellenic *kókkūks, eventually from the same onomatopoeic root of κόκκῡ (kókkū, “cry of the cuckoo”) and κοκκύζω (kokkúzō, “to cry cuckoo”). Compare also English cuckoo, Latin cucūlus (“cuckoo”) and Greek κούκος (koúkos, “cuckoo”), which are all onomatopoeias.

Pronunciation

(5^th BCE Attic) IPA^(key): /kók.kyːks/
(1^st CE Egyptian) IPA^(key): /ˈkok.kyks/
(4^th CE Koine) IPA^(key): /ˈko.cyks/
(10^th CE Byzantine) IPA^(key): /ˈko.cyks/
(15^th CE Constantinopolitan) IPA^(key): /ˈko.ciks/

Noun

κόκκῡξ • (kókkūx) m (genitive κόκκῡγος); third declension

cuckoo (Cuculus canorus)
red gurnard (Chelidonichthys cuculus)
fig that ripens early
tailbone, coccyx
mark on a horse's shoulder

Declension

Third declension of ὁ κόκκῡξ; τοῦ κόκκῡγος (Attic)

Case / #	Singular	Dual	Plural
Nominative	ὁ κόκκῡξ ho kókkūx	τὼ κόκκῡγε tṑ kókkūge	οἱ κόκκῡγες hoi kókkūges
Genitive	τοῦ κόκκῡγος toû kókkūgos	τοῖν κοκκῡ́γοιν toîn kokkū́goin	τῶν κοκκῡ́γων tôn kokkū́gōn
Dative	τῷ κόκκῡγῐ tôi kókkūgi	τοῖν κοκκῡ́γοιν toîn kokkū́goin	τοῖς κόκκῡξῐ / κόκκῡξῐν toîs kókkūxi(n)
Accusative	τὸν κόκκῡγᾰ tòn kókkūga	τὼ κόκκῡγε tṑ kókkūge	τοὺς κόκκῡγᾰς toùs kókkūgas
Vocative	κόκκῡξ kókkūx	κόκκῡγε kókkūge	κόκκῡγες kókkūges
Notes:	This table gives Attic inflectional endings. For declension in other dialects, see Appendix:Ancient Greek dialectal declension.

Derived terms

κοκκυγέα (kokkugéa)
κοκκυγία (kokkugía)
Κοκκύγιον (Kokkúgion)
κοκκῠ́μηλον (kokkúmēlon)

Descendants

→ Latin: coccyx

References

“κόκκυξ”, in Liddell & Scott (1940) A Greek–English Lexicon, Oxford: Clarendon Press
“κόκκυξ”, in Liddell & Scott (1889) An Intermediate Greek–English Lexicon, New York: Harper & Brothers
κόκκυξ in Bailly, Anatole (1935) Le Grand Bailly: Dictionnaire grec-français, Paris: Hachette
Woodhouse, S. C. (1910) English–Greek Dictionary: A Vocabulary of the Attic Language‎, London: Routledge & Kegan Paul Limited.
- cuckoo idem, page 188.
Beekes, Robert S. P. (2010) Etymological Dictionary of Greek (Leiden Indo-European Etymological Dictionary Series; 10), with the assistance of Lucien van Beek, Leiden, Boston: Brill, →ISBN