μαστός

Ancient Greek

Alternative forms

• μαζός (mazós) — Ionic, Epic
• μασδός (masdós) — Doric
• μασθός (masthós)

Etymology

Perhaps related to μαδάω (madáō, “to be moist”). If so, then from Proto-Indo-European *meh₂d- (“wet, glossy, fat, well-fed”).

Pronunciation

 

• IPA^(key): /mas.tós/ → /masˈtos/ → /masˈtos/

• (5^th BCE Attic) IPA^(key): /mas.tós/
• (1^st CE Egyptian) IPA^(key): /masˈtos/
• (4^th CE Koine) IPA^(key): /masˈtos/
• (10^th CE Byzantine) IPA^(key): /masˈtos/
• (15^th CE Constantinopolitan) IPA^(key): /masˈtos/

a breast cup

Noun

μᾰστός • (mastós) m (genitive μᾰστοῦ); second declension

1. (anatomy) (especially of women) The human breast.
   1. (zootomy, rarely) (of animals) An udder.
   2. The breast. (of all mammals, in general)
2. (figurative) Any round, breast-shaped object:
   1. A round hill or knoll.
   2. A round piece of wool fastened to the edge of nets.
   3. (among the Paphians) A breast-shaped cup.

Usage notes

All usage contradicts the statement of the Grammarians that μαζός (mazós) is the man's breast, μαστός (mastós) the woman's.

Inflection

Second declension of ὁ μᾰστός; τοῦ μᾰστοῦ (Attic)

Case / #	Singular	Dual	Plural
Nominative	ὁ μᾰστός ho mastós	τὼ μᾰστώ tṑ mastṓ	οἱ μᾰστοί hoi mastoí
Genitive	τοῦ μᾰστοῦ toû mastoû	τοῖν μᾰστοῖν toîn mastoîn	τῶν μᾰστῶν tôn mastôn
Dative	τῷ μᾰστῷ tôi mastôi	τοῖν μᾰστοῖν toîn mastoîn	τοῖς μᾰστοῖς toîs mastoîs
Accusative	τὸν μᾰστόν tòn mastón	τὼ μᾰστώ tṑ mastṓ	τοὺς μᾰστούς toùs mastoús
Vocative	μᾰστέ masté	μᾰστώ mastṓ	μᾰστοί mastoí
Notes:	This table gives Attic inflectional endings. For declension in other dialects, see Appendix:Ancient Greek dialectal declension.

Derived terms

• βᾰρῠ́μᾰστος (barúmastos)
• μᾰστόδεσμος (mastódesmos)
• μᾰστόδετον (mastódeton)
• μᾰστοειδής (mastoeidḗs)
• μᾰστώδης (mastṓdēs)
• μᾰστᾰ́ρῐον (mastárion)
• μᾰστῐ́ον (mastíon)
• πρόμᾰστος (prómastos)
• φῐλόμᾰστος (philómastos)

 

Descendants

• → English: mastos

References

• “μαστός”, in Liddell & Scott (1940) A Greek–English Lexicon, Oxford: Clarendon Press
• “μαστός”, in Liddell & Scott (1889) An Intermediate Greek–English Lexicon, New York: Harper & Brothers
• μαστός in Bailly, Anatole (1935) Le Grand Bailly: Dictionnaire grec-français, Paris: Hachette
• “μαστός”, in Slater, William J. (1969) Lexicon to Pindar, Berlin: Walter de Gruyter
• G3149 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.
  • bosom idem, page 90.
  • breast idem, page 96.
  • hillock idem, page 400.
  • hummock idem, page 410.
  • knoll idem, page 471.
  • nipple idem, page 558.
  • pap idem, page 591.
  • teat idem, page 859.
  • udder idem, page 905.

Greek

Etymology

From Ancient Greek μαστός (mastós).

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /maˈstos/
• Hyphenation: μα‧στός

Noun

μαστός • (mastós) m (plural μαστοί)

1. (anatomy) breast (mammary gland)
2. (zoology) udder

Declension

Declension of μαστός

	singular	plural
nominative	μαστός •	μαστοί •
genitive	μαστού •	μαστών •
accusative	μαστό •	μαστούς •
vocative	μαστέ •	μαστοί •

Synonyms

• (breast): στήθος m (stíthos), βυζί n (vyzí) (colloquial, vulgar)