νέκυς

Ancient Greek

Alternative forms

νέκυρ (nékur) – Laconian

Etymology

From Proto-Indo-European *neḱ- (“perish, disappear”); see also Middle Welsh angheu (“death”); Breton ankou; Old Irish éc; Latin noxius (“harmful”), noceō (“I hurt, harm”), and nex (“murder, violent death”) (as opposed to mors); Old Persian 𐎻𐎴𐎰𐎹𐎫𐎹 (vi-n-θ-y-t-y /vi-nathayatiy/, “he injures”); Avestan 𐬥𐬀𐬯𐬌𐬌𐬈𐬌𐬙𐬌‎ (nasiieⁱti, “disappears”), 𐬥𐬀𐬯𐬎-‎ (nasu-, “corpse”); Sanskrit नश्यति (naśyati, “disappear, perish”).

Pronunciation

(Epic)

(5^th BCE Attic) IPA^(key): /né.kyːs/
(1^st CE Egyptian) IPA^(key): /ˈne.kys/
(4^th CE Koine) IPA^(key): /ˈne.cys/
(10^th CE Byzantine) IPA^(key): /ˈne.cys/
(15^th CE Constantinopolitan) IPA^(key): /ˈne.cis/

(later poetry)

(5^th BCE Attic) IPA^(key): /né.kys/
(1^st CE Egyptian) IPA^(key): /ˈne.kys/
(4^th CE Koine) IPA^(key): /ˈne.cys/
(10^th CE Byzantine) IPA^(key): /ˈne.cys/
(15^th CE Constantinopolitan) IPA^(key): /ˈne.cis/

Noun

νέκῡς or νέκῠς • (nékūs or nékus) m (genitive νέκῠος); third declension

corpse, dead person
(in the plural) spirits of the dead
(attributive) dead, deceased

Declension

Third declension of νέκῡς; νέκῠος (Epic)

Case / #	Singular	Dual	Plural
Nominative	νέκῡς nékūs	νέκῠε nékue	νέκῠες nékues
Genitive	νέκῠος nékuos	νεκῠ́οιῐν nekúoiin	νεκῠ́ων nekúōn
Dative	νέκῠῐ̈ / νέκυι nékuï / nékui	νεκῠ́οιῐν nekúoiin	νεκῠ́εσσῐ / νεκῠ́εσσῐν / νέκῡσῐ / νέκῡσῐν / νέκῡσσῐ / νέκῡσσῐν nekúessi(n) / nékūsi(n) / nékūssi(n)
Accusative	νέκῡν nékūn	νέκῠε nékue	νέκῡς / νέκῠᾰς nékūs / nékuas
Vocative	νέκῡ nékū	νέκῠε nékue	νέκῠες nékues
Notes:	Dialects other than Attic are not well attested. Some forms may be based on conjecture. Use with caution.

Third declension of ὁ νέκῠς; τοῦ νέκῠος (Attic)

Case / #	Singular	Dual	Plural
Nominative	ὁ νέκῠς ho nékus	τὼ νέκῠε tṑ nékue	οἱ νέκῠες hoi nékues
Genitive	τοῦ νέκῠος toû nékuos	τοῖν νεκῠ́οιν toîn nekúoin	τῶν νεκῠ́ων tôn nekúōn
Dative	τῷ νέκῠῐ̈ / νέκυι tôi nékuï / nékui	τοῖν νεκῠ́οιν toîn nekúoin	τοῖς νέκῠσῐ / νέκῠσῐν toîs nékusi(n)
Accusative	τὸν νέκῠν tòn nékun	τὼ νέκῠε tṑ nékue	τοὺς νέκῡς / νέκῠᾰς toùs nékūs / nékuas
Vocative	νέκῠ néku	νέκῠε nékue	νέκῠες nékues
Notes:	This table gives Attic inflectional endings. For declension in other dialects, see Appendix:Ancient Greek dialectal declension.

Derived terms

νεκυαγωγή (nekuagōgḗ)
νεκυαγωγός (nekuagōgós)
νεκυάμβατος (nekuámbatos)
νεκυδαίμων (nekudaímōn)
νεκύδαλος (nekúdalos)
νεκυηγός (nekuēgós)
νεκυηδόν (nekuēdón)
νεκυηπόλος (nekuēpólos)
νέκυια (nékuia)
νεκυϊκός (nekuïkós)
νεκυϊσμός (nekuïsmós)
νεκυοδαίμων (nekuodaímōn)
νεκυομαντεία (nekuomanteía)
νεκυομαντεῖον (nekuomanteîon)
νεκυομαντικός (nekuomantikós)
νεκυόμαντις (nekuómantis)
νεκυοπομπός (nekuopompós)
νεκυοστόλος (nekuostólos)
νεκύσια (nekúsia)
Νεκύσιος (Nekúsios)
νεκυσσόος (nekussóos)
νεκυώριον (nekuṓrion)

Related terms

νεκρός (nekrós)

References

“νέκυς”, in Liddell & Scott (1940) A Greek–English Lexicon, Oxford: Clarendon Press
“νέκυς”, in Liddell & Scott (1889) An Intermediate Greek–English Lexicon, New York: Harper & Brothers
“νέκυς”, in Autenrieth, Georg (1891) A Homeric Dictionary for Schools and Colleges, New York: Harper and Brothers
νέκυς in Bailly, Anatole (1935) Le Grand Bailly: Dictionnaire grec-français, Paris: Hachette
νέκυς in Cunliffe, Richard J. (1924) A Lexicon of the Homeric Dialect: Expanded Edition, Norman: University of Oklahoma Press, published 1963
“νέκυς”, in Slater, William J. (1969) Lexicon to Pindar, Berlin: Walter de Gruyter
Woodhouse, S. C. (1910) English–Greek Dictionary: A Vocabulary of the Attic Language‎, London: Routledge & Kegan Paul Limited.
- body idem, page 87.
- carrion idem, page 115.
- corpse idem, page 174.
- dead idem, page 197.