σφήξ

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Ancient Greek

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Alternative forms

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Etymology

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Generally considered to be from Proto-Indo-European *bʰey- (bee).[1] Beekes rejects this in favor of a Pre-Greek origin possibly shared with ψήν (psḗn, gall-insect). Or, possible connection with σφάκελος (sphákelos, necrosis, spasm, convulsion), referring to the sting, though the sense remains uncertain.[2]

Compare Latin fūcus (drone, bee).

Pronunciation

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Noun

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σφήξ (sphḗxm (genitive σφηκός); third declension

  1. wasp

Inflection

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Derived terms

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Descendants

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  • Greek: σφήκα (sfíka)
  • Translingual (genus name): Sphex
  • English: sphex

References

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  • σφήξ”, in Liddell & Scott (1940) A Greek–English Lexicon, Oxford: Clarendon Press
  • σφήξ in Bailly, Anatole (1935) Le Grand Bailly: Dictionnaire grec-français, Paris: Hachette
  • σφήξ in Cunliffe, Richard J. (1924) A Lexicon of the Homeric Dialect: Expanded Edition, Norman: University of Oklahoma Press, published 1963
  • Woodhouse, S. C. (1910) English–Greek Dictionary: A Vocabulary of the Attic Language[1], London: Routledge & Kegan Paul Limited.
    • wasp idem, page 964.
  • Edward Ross Wharton (1890) Etyma Graeca: an etymological lexicon of classical Greek, New York: Rivingtons
  1. ^ Mallory, J. P., Adams, D. Q. (2006) The Oxford introduction to Proto-Indo-European and the Proto-Indo-European world, Oxford University Press
  2. ^ 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