δραχμή

See also: drachma and drakme

Ancient Greek

Alternative forms

• δρᾰχμᾱ́ (drakhmā́) — Doric
• δᾰρχμή (darkhmḗ) — Epic

Etymology

Typically derived as a verbal noun (“holding”) of δράσσομαι (drássomai, “to hold, to seize”). Beekes, however, argues that the existence of the variants δαρχμά (darkhmá) and δαρχνά (darkhná) means δραχ- (drakh-) and δαρχ- (darkh-) do not continue the zero-grade of Proto-Hellenic *dr̥kʰ- and instead derive from an otherwise unknown Pre-Greek substrate term.

Pronunciation

 

• IPA^(key): /drakʰ.mɛ̌ː/ → /ðraxˈmi/ → /ðraxˈmi/

• (5^th BCE Attic) IPA^(key): /drakʰ.mɛ̌ː/
• (1^st CE Egyptian) IPA^(key): /drakʰˈme̝/
• (4^th CE Koine) IPA^(key): /ðraxˈmi/
• (10^th CE Byzantine) IPA^(key): /ðraxˈmi/
• (15^th CE Constantinopolitan) IPA^(key): /ðraxˈmi/

Noun

δρᾰχμή • (drakhmḗ) f (genitive δρᾰχμῆς); first declension

1. drachma
2. drachm

Inflection

First declension of ἡ δρᾰχμή; τῆς δρᾰχμῆς (Attic)

Case / #	Singular	Dual	Plural
Nominative	ἡ δρᾰχμή hē drakhmḗ	τὼ δρᾰχμᾱ́ tṑ drakhmā́	αἱ δρᾰχμαί hai drakhmaí
Genitive	τῆς δρᾰχμῆς tês drakhmês	τοῖν δρᾰχμαῖν toîn drakhmaîn	τῶν δρᾰχμῶν tôn drakhmôn
Dative	τῇ δρᾰχμῇ têi drakhmêi	τοῖν δρᾰχμαῖν toîn drakhmaîn	ταῖς δρᾰχμαῖς taîs drakhmaîs
Accusative	τὴν δρᾰχμήν tḕn drakhmḗn	τὼ δρᾰχμᾱ́ tṑ drakhmā́	τᾱ̀ς δρᾰχμᾱ́ς tā̀s drakhmā́s
Vocative	δρᾰχμή drakhmḗ	δρᾰχμᾱ́ drakhmā́	δρᾰχμαί drakhmaí
Notes:	This table gives Attic inflectional endings. For declension in other dialects, see Appendix:Ancient Greek dialectal declension.

First declension of ᾱ̔ δραχμᾱ́; τᾶς δραχμᾶς (Doric)

Case / #	Singular	Dual	Plural
Nominative	ᾱ̔ δραχμᾱ́ hā drakhmā́	τὼ δραχμᾱ́ tṑ drakhmā́	ταὶ δραχμαί taì drakhmaí
Genitive	τᾶς δραχμᾶς tâs drakhmâs	τοῖν δραχμαῖν toîn drakhmaîn	τᾶν δραχμᾶν tân drakhmân
Dative	τᾷ δραχμᾷ tâi drakhmâi	τοῖν δραχμαῖν toîn drakhmaîn	ταῖς δραχμαῖς taîs drakhmaîs
Accusative	τᾱ̀ν δραχμᾱ́ν tā̀n drakhmā́n	τὼ δραχμᾱ́ tṑ drakhmā́	τᾱ̀ς δραχμᾱ́ς tā̀s drakhmā́s
Vocative	δραχμᾱ́ drakhmā́	δραχμᾱ́ drakhmā́	δραχμαί drakhmaí
Notes:	Dialects other than Attic are not well attested. Some forms may be based on conjecture. Use with caution.

Descendants

• Greek: δραχμή (drachmí)
  • → Turkish: drahmi
• → Bactrian: δραχμο (draxmo), δδραχμο (ddraxmo)
• → Khotanese: [script needed] (draṃmaa-)
• → Latin: drachma (see there for further descendants)
• → Middle Persian: 𐭦𐭥𐭦𐭭 (ZWZN /⁠drahm⁠/), 𐫅𐫡𐫍𐫖 (drhm /⁠drahm⁠/) (see there for further descendants)
• → Old Armenian: դրաքմայ (drakʻmay), դրաքմէ (drakʻmē), դրագմէ (dragmē)
• → Sanskrit: द्रम्म (drámma) (see there for further descendants)
• → Sogdian: [script needed] (δrγmh /⁠δraxm(a)⁠/)

Further reading

• “δραχμή”, in Liddell & Scott (1940) A Greek–English Lexicon, Oxford: Clarendon Press
• “δραχμή”, in Liddell & Scott (1889) An Intermediate Greek–English Lexicon, New York: Harper & Brothers
• δραχμή in Bailly, Anatole (1935) Le Grand Bailly: Dictionnaire grec-français, Paris: Hachette
• Bauer, Walter et al. (2001) A Greek–English Lexicon of the New Testament and Other Early Christian Literature, Third edition, Chicago: University of Chicago Press
• δραχμή in the Diccionario Griego–Español en línea (2006–2024)
• G1406 in Strong, James (1979) Strong’s Exhaustive Concordance to the Bible
• Woodhouse, S. C. (1910) English–Greek Dictionary: A Vocabulary of the Attic Language‎^[1], London: Routledge & Kegan Paul Limited.
  • coin idem, page 142.
  • pound idem, page 630.
  • shilling idem, page 766.

Greek

Etymology

From Ancient Greek δραχμή (drakhmḗ).

Noun

δραχμή • (drachmí) f (plural δραχμές)

1. (historical) drachma (former Greek currency 1833-2002)
2. (obsolete or historical) drachma (an ancient unit of weight)

Declension

Declension of δραχμή

	singular	plural
nominative	δραχμή (drachmí)	δραχμές (drachmés)
genitive	δραχμής (drachmís)	δραχμών (drachmón)
accusative	δραχμή (drachmí)	δραχμές (drachmés)
vocative	δραχμή (drachmí)	δραχμές (drachmés)

Coordinate terms

• λεπτό m (leptó, “cent”)

Descendants

• → Turkish: drahmi

Further reading

• δραχμή on the Greek Wikipedia.Wikipedia ^el