ἰχθύς

See also: ιχθύς and ΙΧΘΥΣ

Ancient Greek

Alternative forms

• ἰχθῦς (ikhthûs)

Etymology

Perhaps from Proto-Indo-European *dʰǵʰu- (“fish”), but the initial ἰ is unetymological and problematic. Compare Old Armenian ձուկն (jukn) and Lithuanian žuvìs.

Pronunciation

 

• IPA^(key): /ikʰ.tʰy̌ːs/ → /ixˈθys/ → /ixˈθis/

• (5^th BCE Attic) IPA^(key): /ikʰ.tʰy̌ːs/
• (1^st CE Egyptian) IPA^(key): /ikʰˈtʰys/
• (4^th CE Koine) IPA^(key): /ixˈθys/
• (10^th CE Byzantine) IPA^(key): /ixˈθys/
• (15^th CE Constantinopolitan) IPA^(key): /ixˈθis/

Noun

ἰχθῡ́ς • (ikhthū́s) m (genitive ἰχθῠ́ος); third declension

1. fish
   • 800 BCE – 600 BCE, Homer, Iliad 24.82:

     ἔρχεται ὠμηστῇσιν ἐπ’ ἰχθύσι κῆρα φέρουσα

     érkhetai ōmēstêisin ep’ ikhthúsi kêra phérousa

     goeth down bearing death to the ravenous fishes

   1. (figuratively) stupid person
      • 46 CE – 120 CE, Plutarch, Moralia 2.975b
   2. (in the plural) fish market
      • 405 BCE, Aristophanes, The Frogs 1068:

        κἂν ταῦτα λέγων ἐξαπατήσῃ, παρὰ τοὺς ἰχθῦς ἀνέκυψεν.

        kàn taûta légōn exapatḗsēi, parà toùs ikhthûs anékupsen.

        And if he fooled 'em with that story, he'd pop up in the fish market.

   3. (in the plural) Pisces (constellation)
      • 190 BCE – 120 BCE, Hipparchus, Collected Works 1.2.3
      • 234 CE – 305 CE, Porphyry, Antr. 22

Inflection

Third declension of ὁ ἰ̆χθῡ́ς; τοῦ ἰ̆χθῠ́ος (Attic)

Case / #	Singular	Dual	Plural
Nominative	ὁ ἰ̆χθῡ́ς ho ikhthū́s	τὼ ἰ̆χθῠ́ε tṑ ikhthúe	οἱ ἰ̆χθῠ́ες hoi ikhthúes
Genitive	τοῦ ἰ̆χθῠ́ος toû ikhthúos	τοῖν ἰ̆χθῠ́οιν toîn ikhthúoin	τῶν ἰ̆χθῠ́ων tôn ikhthúōn
Dative	τῷ ἰ̆χθῠ́ῐ̈ tôi ikhthúï	τοῖν ἰ̆χθῠ́οιν toîn ikhthúoin	τοῖς ἰ̆χθῠ́σῐ / ἰ̆χθῠ́σῐν toîs ikhthúsi(n)
Accusative	τὸν ἰχθῡ́ν / ἰχθῠ́ᾰ tòn ikhthū́n / ikhthúa	τὼ ἰ̆χθῠ́ε tṑ ikhthúe	τοὺς ἰ̆χθῦς / ἰ̆χθῠ́ᾰς toùs ikhthûs / ikhthúas
Vocative	ἰ̆χθῡ́ ikhthū́	ἰ̆χθῠ́ε ikhthúe	ἰ̆χθῠ́ες ikhthúes
Notes:	This table gives Attic inflectional endings. For declension in other dialects, see Appendix:Ancient Greek dialectal declension.

Derived terms

• ᾰ̓́νιχθῠς (ánikhthus)
• ᾰ̓πιχθυόομαι (apikhthuóomai)
• ᾰ̓πιχθῠς (apikhthus)
• εὔιχθῠς (eúikhthus)
• ἰχθῠ́ᾱ (ikhthúā)
• ἰχθῠᾰγωγός (ikhthuagōgós)
• ἰχθῠάζομαι (ikhthuázomai)
• ἰχθῠᾰκός (ikhthuakós)
• ἰχθῠᾰ́ω (ikhthuáō)
• ἰχθῠ́βολος (ikhthúbolos)
• ἰχθῠβόρος (ikhthubóros)
• ἰχθῠ́βοτος (ikhthúbotos)
• ἰχθῠγόνος (ikhthugónos)
• ἰχθῡ́διον (ikhthū́dion)
• ἰχθῠδόκος (ikhthudókos)
• ἰχθῠεῖον (ikhthueîon)
• ἰχθῠήμᾰτᾰ (ikhthuḗmata)
• ἰχθῠηρός (ikhthuērós)
• ἰχθῠῐ̈́ᾱ (ikhthuḯā)
• ἰχθῠῐ̈κός (ikhthuïkós)
• ἰχθῠ́κεντρον (ikhthúkentron)
• ἰχθῠμέδων (ikhthumédōn)
• ἰχθῠνόμος (ikhthunómos)
• ἰχθῠόβρωτος (ikhthuóbrōtos)
• ἰχθῠοειδής (ikhthuoeidḗs)
• ἰχθῠόεις (ikhthuóeis)
• ἰχθῠοθήρᾱ (ikhthuothḗrā)
• ἰχθῠοθήρᾱς (ikhthuothḗrās)
• ἰχθῠοθηρευτής (ikhthuothēreutḗs)
• ἰχθῠοθηρητήρ (ikhthuothērētḗr)
• ἰχθῠοθηρῐ́ᾱ (ikhthuothēríā)
• ἰχθῠοκένταυρος (ikhthuokéntauros)
• ἰχθῠόκολλᾰ (ikhthuókolla)
• ἰχθῠολογέω (ikhthuologéō)
• ἰχθῠολῡ́μης (ikhthuolū́mēs)
• ἰχθῠόμαντῐς (ikhthuómantis)
• ἰχθῠομετᾰ́βολος (ikhthuometábolos)
• ἰχθῠοπρᾱ́της (ikhthuoprā́tēs)
• ἰχθῠοπτρῐ́ς (ikhthuoptrís)
• ἰχθῠοπώλης (ikhthuopṓlēs)
• ἰχθῠόρροος (ikhthuórrhoos)
• ἰχθῠοτρόφος (ikhthuotróphos)
• ἰχθῠουλκός (ikhthuoulkós)
• ἰχθῠόφᾰγος (ikhthuóphagos)
• ἰχθῠόφορος (ikhthuóphoros)
• ἰχθῠπᾰγής (ikhthupagḗs)
• ἰχθῠπόρος (ikhthupóros)
• ἰχθῠσιληϊστήρ (ikhthusilēïstḗr)
• ἰχθυστεφής (ikhthustephḗs)
• ἰχθῠφόνος (ikhthuphónos)
• ἰχθῠώδης (ikhthuṓdēs)
• κάλλιχθῠς (kállikhthus)
• πολῠ́ϊχθῠς (polúïkhthus)
• φῐ́λιχθῠς (phílikhthus)

 

Descendants

• Greek: ιχθύς (ichthýs)
• → English: ichthys

Further reading

• ἰχθύς in Wilhelm Pape's Handwörterbuch der griechischen Sprache: Griechisch-deutsches Handwörterbuch. 1875. Vol I, pg. 582/1.
• “ἰχθῦς”, in Liddell & Scott (1940) A Greek–English Lexicon, Oxford: Clarendon Press
• “ἰχθύς”, in Liddell & Scott (1889) An Intermediate Greek–English Lexicon, New York: Harper & Brothers
• “ἰχθύς”, in Autenrieth, Georg (1891) A Homeric Dictionary for Schools and Colleges, New York: Harper and Brothers
• ἰχθύς 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
• ἰχθύς in Cunliffe, Richard J. (1924) A Lexicon of the Homeric Dialect: Expanded Edition, Norman: University of Oklahoma Press, published 1963
• “ἰχθύς”, in Slater, William J. (1969) Lexicon to Pindar, Berlin: Walter de Gruyter
• G2486 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.
  • fish idem, page 323.
• “ἰχθύς”, in ΛΟΓΕΙΟΝ [Logeion] Dictionaries for Ancient Greek and Latin (in English, French, Spanish, German, Dutch and Chinese), University of Chicago, since 2011