λύκος

See also: Λύκος

Ancient Greek

FWOTD – 1 February 2023

Etymology

From Proto-Hellenic *lúkos, from Proto-Indo-European *wĺ̥kʷos (“wolf”) with metathesis. Cognates include Sanskrit वृक (vṛ́ka), Latin lupus (also showing metathesis), Old English wulf (English wolf) and Russian волк (volk).

Pronunciation

 

• IPA^(key): /lý.kos/ → /ˈly.kos/ → /ˈli.kos/

• (5^th BCE Attic) IPA^(key): /lý.kos/
• (1^st CE Egyptian) IPA^(key): /ˈly.kos/
• (4^th CE Koine) IPA^(key): /ˈly.kos/
• (10^th CE Byzantine) IPA^(key): /ˈly.kos/
• (15^th CE Constantinopolitan) IPA^(key): /ˈli.kos/

Noun

λῠ́κος • (lúkos) m (genitive λῠ́κου); second declension

1. wolf
   • New Testament, Mat. 7:15:

     Προσέχετε ἀπὸ τῶν ψευδοπροφητῶν, οἵτινες ἔρχονται πρὸς ὑμᾶς ἐν ἐνδύμασιν προβάτων, ἔσωθεν δὲ εἰσὶν λύκοι ἅρπαγες.

     Prosékhete apò tôn pseudoprophētôn, hoítines érkhontai pròs humâs en endúmasin probátōn, ésōthen dè eisìn lúkoi hárpages.

     Beware of false prophets, which come to you in sheep's clothing, but inwardly they are ravening wolves.

2. curb bit
3. a kind of jackdaw

Inflection

Second declension of ὁ λῠ́κος; τοῦ λῠ́κου (Attic)

Case / #	Singular	Dual	Plural
Nominative	ὁ λῠ́κος ho lúkos	τὼ λῠ́κω tṑ lúkō	οἱ λῠ́κοι hoi lúkoi
Genitive	τοῦ λῠ́κου toû lúkou	τοῖν λῠ́κοιν toîn lúkoin	τῶν λῠ́κων tôn lúkōn
Dative	τῷ λῠ́κῳ tôi lúkōi	τοῖν λῠ́κοιν toîn lúkoin	τοῖς λῠ́κοις toîs lúkois
Accusative	τὸν λῠ́κον tòn lúkon	τὼ λῠ́κω tṑ lúkō	τοὺς λῠ́κους toùs lúkous
Vocative	λῠ́κε lúke	λῠ́κω lúkō	λῠ́κοι lúkoi
Notes:	This table gives Attic inflectional endings. For declension in other dialects, see Appendix:Ancient Greek dialectal declension.

Related terms

λυκ- terms (also see λύσσα (lússa))

• αἰνόλῠκος m (ainólukos, “horrible wolf”)
• Αὐτόλῠκος m (Autólukos)
• κῠνόλῠκος m (kunólukos)
• λῠκάγχη f (lukánkhē)
• λῠ́καινα f (lúkaina, “she-wolf”)
• λῠκαινίς f (lukainís, “she-wolf”)
• λῠκαινόμορφος (lukainómorphos, “she-wolf-shaped”)
• Λῠ́καιον n (Lúkaion)
• Λῠκαιονίκης m (Lukaioníkēs)
• Λῠκαῖος (Lukaîos, “Lycaean”)
• λῠκανθρωπῐ́ᾱ f (lukanthrōpíā, “a kind of madness”)
• λῠκάνθρωπος m or f (lukánthrōpos, “man-wolf”)
• Λῠκᾱονῐ́ᾱ f (Lukāoníā)
• λῠκαυγής (lukaugḗs, “of grey-twilight”)
• λῠκάων m (lukáōn, “man-wolf”)
• λῠκέη f (lukéē, “wolfʼs-skin”)
• λῠκεία f (lukeía, “helmet of wolf-skin”)
• Λῠ́κειον n (Lúkeion)
• λῠ́κειος (lúkeios, “of a wolf”)
• λῠκῆ f (lukê, “'λῠκέη'”)
• λῠκηδόν (lukēdón, “wolf-like”, adverb)
• λῠκηθμός m (lukēthmós, “wolfʼs howl”)
• Λῠκία f (Lukía)
• Λῠκιάρχης m (Lukiárkhēs)
• λῠκῐδεύς m (lukideús, “wolfʼs cub”)
• λῠ́κιον n (lúkion, “Rhamnus petiolaris”)
• Λῠ́κιος f (Lúkios)
• λῠκόβρωτος (lukóbrōtos, “eaten by wolves”)
• λῠκοδίωκτος (lukodíōktos, “wolf-chased”)
• λῠκοειδής (lukoeidḗs, “wolf-like”)
• λῠκοεργής (lukoergḗs)
• λῠκοθαρσής (lukotharsḗs, “not fearing wolves”)
• λῠκοκτονέω (lukoktonéō, “slay wolves”)
• λῠκοκτόνος (lukoktónos, “wolf-slaying”)
• λῠ́κολυγξ m (lúkolunx, “wolf-lynx”)
• Λῠκομήδης m (Lukomḗdēs)
• λῠκόμορφος (lukómorphos, “wolf-shaped”)
• Λυκόοργος m (Lukóorgos)
• λῠκοπάνθηρος m (lukopánthēros, “wolf-panther”)
• λῠκοπέρσῐον n (lukopérsion)
• Λῠκόπολῐς f (Lukópolis)
• λῠκορραίστης m (lukorrhaístēs, “wolf-worrier”)
• λῠκόσκορδον n (lukóskordon)
• λῠκοσκῠτᾰ́λιον n (lukoskutálion, “white mignonette”)
• Λῠκόσουρα f (Lukósoura)
• λῠκοσπάς m or f (lukospás, “torn by wolves”)
• λῠκόστομος m (lukóstomos, “wolf-mouth, a kind of anchovy”)
• Λῠκούργεια f (Lukoúrgeia, “trilogy of Aeschylus”)
• Λῠκοῦργος m (Lukoûrgos)
• λῠκόφθαλμος (lukóphthalmos, “wolf-eye, precious stone”)
• λῠκόφθαλμος f (lukóphthalmos, “wolf-eye, precious stone”)
• λῠκοφῐλία f (lukophilía, “wolfʼs false friendship”)
• λῠκοφῐ́λιος (lukophílios)
• λῠκοφόρος (lukophóros, “with mark of a wolf”)
• λῠκόφρυς f (lukóphrus, “a plant”)
• λῠκόφρων m or f (lukóphrōn, “wolf-minded”)
• λυκόφων m (lukóphōn, “a plant”)
• λῠκόφως n (lukóphōs, “twilight, gloaming”)
• λῠκόχροος (lukókhroos, “wolf-coloured”) λῠκόχρους
• λῠκοψία f (lukopsía, “twilight”)
• λῠκόω (lukóō, “to tear like a wolf”)
• λῠκώ f (lukṓ, “she-wolf epithet of the Moon”)
• λῠκώδης (lukṓdēs, “wolf-like”)
• μονόλῠκος m (monólukos, “solitary”)

 

Descendants

• Greek: λύκος (lýkos)
• Tsakonian: λιούκο (lioúko)
• → Latin: lycos
• → Samoan: luko (learned)
  • → Tokelauan: luko (learned)

References

• “λύκος”, in Liddell & Scott (1940) A Greek–English Lexicon, Oxford: Clarendon Press
• “λύκος”, in Liddell & Scott (1889) An Intermediate Greek–English Lexicon, New York: Harper & Brothers
• “λύκος”, in Autenrieth, Georg (1891) A Homeric Dictionary for Schools and Colleges, New York: Harper and Brothers
• λύκος 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
• λύκος in Cunliffe, Richard J. (1924) A Lexicon of the Homeric Dialect: Expanded Edition, Norman: University of Oklahoma Press, published 1963
• “λύκος”, in Slater, William J. (1969) Lexicon to Pindar, Berlin: Walter de Gruyter
• G3074 in Strong, James (1979) Strong’s Exhaustive Concordance to the Bible
• λύκος in Trapp, Erich, et al. (1994–2007) Lexikon zur byzantinischen Gräzität besonders des 9.-12. Jahrhunderts [the Lexicon of Byzantine Hellenism, Particularly the 9th–12th Centuries], Verlag der Österreichischen Akademie der Wissenschaften
• Woodhouse, S. C. (1910) English–Greek Dictionary: A Vocabulary of the Attic Language‎^[1], London: Routledge & Kegan Paul Limited.
  • lycus idem, page 506.
  • wolf idem, page 986.
• “λύκος”, in ΛΟΓΕΙΟΝ [Logeion] Dictionaries for Ancient Greek and Latin (in English, French, Spanish, German, Dutch and Chinese), University of Chicago, since 2011

Greek

Etymology

From Ancient Greek λύκος (lúkos)

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /ˈlikos/
• Hyphenation: λύ‧κος

Noun

λύκος • (lýkos) m (plural λύκοι, feminine λύκαινα)

1. wolf
2. wolfdog
3. aggressive and bloodthirsty person
4. (pathology) lupus
5. cock of old hunting gun

Declension

	singular	plural
nominative	λύκος (lýkos)	λύκοι (lýkoi)
genitive	λύκου (lýkou)	λύκων (lýkon)
accusative	λύκο (lýko)	λύκους (lýkous)
vocative	λύκε (lýke)	λύκοι (lýkoi)

Derived terms

Expressions

• ο λύκος ουρλιάζει (ourliázei)
• πεινάω σα λύκος (peináo sa lýkos)
• στο στόμα του λύκου (sto stóma tou lýkou, “into the lion's den”, literally “into the wolf's mouth-”)
• τρώω σα λύκος (tróo sa lýkos)

 

Proverbs

• έβαλαν το λύκο να φυλάει τα πρόβατα (évalan to lýko na fyláei ta próvata)
• ο λύκος έχει τ' όνομα κι η αλεπού τη χάρη (o lýkos échei t' ónoma ki i alepoú ti chári)
• ο λύκος κι αν εγέρασε κι άσπρισε το μαλλί του, μήτε τη γνώμη άλλαξε, μήτε την κεφαλή του (o lýkos ki an egérase ki ásprise to mallí tou, míte ti gnómi állaxe, míte tin kefalí tou, “a leopard cannot change its spots”)
• ο λύκος στην αναμπουμπούλα χαίρεται (o lýkos stin anampoumpoúla chaíretai)

 

Related terms

λυκ- and see λύσσα

λυκ-

• γερόλυκος m (gerólykos)
• θαλασσόλυκος m (thalassólykos)
• λύκαινα f (lýkaina, “she-wolf”)
• λυκάκι n (lykáki, “wolf cub”)
• λυκανθρωπία f (lykanthropía) (medicine)
• λυκάνθρωπος m (lykánthropos, “man-wolf”)
• λυκαυγές n (lykavgés, “first twilight”)
• λυκειάρχης m (lykeiárchis, “lyceum director”)
• λύκειο n (lýkeio, “lyceum”)
• λυκίσκος m (lykískos, “hop, Homulus lupulus”)
• λυκίσκος m (lykískos, “Lupus constellation”)
• λυκόπουλο n (lykópoulo, “wolf cub”)
• λυκόσκυλο n (lykóskylo, “german shepherd dog, or wolfdog”)
• λυκόστομα n (lykóstoma) (medicine)
• λυκοφιλία f (lykofilía, “wolfʼs false friendship”)
• λυκοφωλιά f (lykofoliá, “wolf's den”)
• λυκόφως n (lykófos, “twilight”)

 

Further reading

• λύκος on the Greek Wikipedia.Wikipedia ^el
• λύκος, in Λεξικό της κοινής νεοελληνικής [Dictionary of Standard Modern Greek], Triantafyllidis Foundation, 1998 at the Centre for the Greek language