οἶστρος

See also: οίστρος

Ancient Greek

Etymology

From Proto-Indo-European *h₁eys-, used to form words denoting passion; see also Latin ira (“anger”), Lithuanian aistra (“violent passion”), Avestan 𐬀𐬉𐬴𐬨𐬀‎ (aēṣ̌ma, “anger”).

Pronunciation

(5^th BCE Attic) IPA^(key): /ôi̯s.tros/
(1^st CE Egyptian) IPA^(key): /ˈys.tros/
(4^th CE Koine) IPA^(key): /ˈys.tros/
(10^th CE Byzantine) IPA^(key): /ˈys.tros/
(15^th CE Constantinopolitan) IPA^(key): /ˈis.tros/

Noun

οἶστρος • (oîstros) m (genitive οἴστρου); second declension

gadfly, breese
- Homer, Odyssey 22.300
1. an insect which infests tuna
  - Aristotle, History of Animals 5.31,8
2. a small insectivorous bird, perhaps the willow warbler
  - Aristotle, History of Animals 8.3,5
(figuratively) a sting, anything that drives mad
- Euripides, Herakles 862
1. (absolute) the smart of pain, agony
  - Sophocles, Women of Trachis 1254
2. any vehement desire, mad desire, insane passion
  - Herodotus, Histories 2.93
3. madness, frenzy
  - Sopocles, Antigone 1002

Inflection

Second declension of ὁ οἶστρος; τοῦ οἴστρου (Attic)

Case / #	Singular	Dual	Plural
Nominative	ὁ οἶστρος ho oîstros	τὼ οἴστρω tṑ oístrō	οἱ οἶστροι hoi oîstroi
Genitive	τοῦ οἴστρου toû oístrou	τοῖν οἴστροιν toîn oístroin	τῶν οἴστρων tôn oístrōn
Dative	τῷ οἴστρῳ tôi oístrōi	τοῖν οἴστροιν toîn oístroin	τοῖς οἴστροις toîs oístrois
Accusative	τὸν οἶστρον tòn oîstron	τὼ οἴστρω tṑ oístrō	τοὺς οἴστρους toùs oístrous
Vocative	οἶστρε oîstre	οἴστρω oístrō	οἶστροι oîstroi
Notes:	This table gives Attic inflectional endings. For declension in other dialects, see Appendix:Ancient Greek dialectal declension.

Related terms

οἶμα (oîma)

Descendants

→ Latin: oestrus
- → Catalan: estre
- → English: oestrus, estrus
- → French: œstre
  - → Romanian: estru
- → Italian: estro
- → Middle French: oestrus
- → Piedmontese: estro
- → Portuguese: estro
- → Spanish: estro
Greek: οίστρος (oístros)