χέλυς

Ancient Greek

Etymology

From Proto-Indo-European *gʰelu-, *gʰelew- ,*gʰelōw- (“tortoise”). Related to χελώνη (khelṓnē, “tortoise”). Compare to Proto-Slavic *žьlvъ, whence Old Church Slavonic желу (želu, “turtle”), Polish żółw (“tortoise”).

Pronunciation

(Epic)

(5^th BCE Attic) IPA^(key): /kʰé.lyːs/
(1^st CE Egyptian) IPA^(key): /ˈkʰe.lys/
(4^th CE Koine) IPA^(key): /ˈçe.lys/
(10^th CE Byzantine) IPA^(key): /ˈçe.lys/
(15^th CE Constantinopolitan) IPA^(key): /ˈçe.lis/

(later poetry)

(5^th BCE Attic) IPA^(key): /kʰé.lys/
(1^st CE Egyptian) IPA^(key): /ˈkʰe.lys/
(4^th CE Koine) IPA^(key): /ˈçe.lys/
(10^th CE Byzantine) IPA^(key): /ˈçe.lys/
(15^th CE Constantinopolitan) IPA^(key): /ˈçe.lis/

Noun

χέλῡς or χέλῠς • (khélūs or khélus) f (genitive χέλῠος); third declension

tortoise
- 7th-6th centuries BC, Homeric Hymn to Hermes 33
lyre
- 7th-6th centuries BC, Homeric Hymn to Hermes 25
- 7th-6th centuries BC, Homeric Hymn to Hermes 153
- 630 BCE – 570 BCE, Sappho, Collected Works 45
- 525 BCE – 455 BCE, Aeschylus, Fragments 314
- 438 BCE, Euripides, Alcestis 448
(astronomy) Lyra, a constellation
- 315 BCE – 240 BCE, Aratus, Phaenomena 268
arched breast, chest
- 460 BCE – 370 BCE, Hippocrates, Anat. 1
- 458 BCE, Euripides, Electra 837

Declension

Third declension of χέλῡς; χέλῠος (Epic)

Case / #	Singular	Dual	Plural
Nominative	χέλῡς khélūs	χέλῠε khélue	χέλῠες khélues
Genitive	χέλῠος khéluos	χελῠ́οιῐν khelúoiin	χελῠ́ων khelúōn
Dative	χέλῠῐ̈ / χέλυι khéluï / khélui	χελῠ́οιῐν khelúoiin	χελῠ́εσσῐ / χελῠ́εσσῐν / χέλῡσῐ / χέλῡσῐν / χέλῡσσῐ / χέλῡσσῐν khelúessi(n) / khélūsi(n) / khélūssi(n)
Accusative	χέλῡν khélūn	χέλῠε khélue	χέλῡς / χέλῠᾰς khélūs / khéluas
Vocative	χέλῡ khélū	χέλῠε khélue	χέλῠες khélues
Notes:	Dialects other than Attic are not well attested. Some forms may be based on conjecture. Use with caution.

Third declension of ἡ χέλῠς; τῆς χέλῠος (Attic)

Case / #	Singular	Dual	Plural
Nominative	ἡ χέλῠς hē khélus	τὼ χέλῠε tṑ khélue	αἱ χέλῠες hai khélues
Genitive	τῆς χέλῠος tês khéluos	τοῖν χελῠ́οιν toîn khelúoin	τῶν χελῠ́ων tôn khelúōn
Dative	τῇ χέλῠῐ̈ / χέλυι têi khéluï / khélui	τοῖν χελῠ́οιν toîn khelúoin	ταῖς χέλῠσῐ / χέλῠσῐν taîs khélusi(n)
Accusative	τὴν χέλῠν tḕn khélun	τὼ χέλῠε tṑ khélue	τᾱ̀ς χέλῡς / χέλῠᾰς tā̀s khélūs / khéluas
Vocative	χέλῠ khélu	χέλῠε khélue	χέλῠες khélues
Notes:	This table gives Attic inflectional endings. For declension in other dialects, see Appendix:Ancient Greek dialectal declension.

Synonyms

(tortoise): χελώνη (khelṓnē)
(arched breast, chest): χελώνιον (khelṓnion)

Derived terms

χέλῠδρος (khéludros)

Descendants

Latin: chelys

References

“χέλυς”, in Liddell & Scott (1940) A Greek–English Lexicon, Oxford: Clarendon Press
“χέλυς”, in Charlton T. Lewis and Charles Short (1879) A Latin Dictionary, Oxford: Clarendon Press
“χέλυς”, in Liddell & Scott (1889) An Intermediate Greek–English Lexicon, New York: Harper & Brothers
χέλυς 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.
- lyre idem, page 506.