ὠδίς

Ancient Greek

Alternative forms

ὠδίν (ōdín)

Etymology

The formation is similar to ἀκτίς (aktís), γλωχίς (glōkhís) and δελφίς (delphís) but the root is unclear. The word has been connected with ὀδύνη (odúnē, “pain of body”) but the long initial vowel has not been explained yet. Van Beek suggests a derivation from Proto-Indo-European *h₃ed- (“to bite”). Alternatively, the word may be of Pre-Greek origin, becuase of the suffix "-ῖν-".

Pronunciation

(5^th BCE Attic) IPA^(key): /ɔː.dǐːs/
(1^st CE Egyptian) IPA^(key): /oˈdis/
(4^th CE Koine) IPA^(key): /oˈðis/
(10^th CE Byzantine) IPA^(key): /oˈðis/
(15^th CE Constantinopolitan) IPA^(key): /oˈðis/

Noun

ὠδῑ́ς • (ōdī́s) f (genitive ὠδῖνος); third declension

pangs or throes of childbirth (mostly in plural)
that which is born amid throes, child
travail, anguish (also of love)

Inflection

Third declension of ἡ ὠδῑ́ς; τῆς ὠδῖνος (Attic)

Case / #	Singular	Dual	Plural
Nominative	ἡ ὠδῑ́ς hē ōdī́s	τὼ ὠδῖνε tṑ ōdîne	αἱ ὠδῖνες hai ōdînes
Genitive	τῆς ὠδῖνος tês ōdînos	τοῖν ὠδῑ́νοιν toîn ōdī́noin	τῶν ὠδῑ́νων tôn ōdī́nōn
Dative	τῇ ὠδῖνῐ têi ōdîni	τοῖν ὠδῑ́νοιν toîn ōdī́noin	ταῖς ὠδῖσῐ / ὠδῖσῐν taîs ōdîsi(n)
Accusative	τὴν ὠδῖνᾰ tḕn ōdîna	τὼ ὠδῖνε tṑ ōdîne	τᾱ̀ς ὠδῖνᾰς tā̀s ōdînas
Vocative	ὠδῑ́ς ōdī́s	ὠδῖνε ōdîne	ὠδῖνες ōdînes
Notes:	This table gives Attic inflectional endings. For declension in other dialects, see Appendix:Ancient Greek dialectal declension.

Derived terms

δυσώδινος (dusṓdinos)
ὠδινολύτης (ōdinolútēs)
ὠδίνω (ōdínō)

References

ὠδίς in Liddell & Scott (1940) A Greek–English Lexicon, Oxford: Clarendon Press
ὠδίς in Bailly, Anatole (1935) Le Grand Bailly: Dictionnaire grec-français, Paris: Hachette
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