σελίς

Ancient Greek

Etymology

Clearly related to σέλμα (sélma, “deck of a ship”). These words have been compared to Old English selma and syll, and to Old High German swelli, but phonetically this etymology is unconvincing. If the gloss cited by Hesychius ἔλματα (élmata, “planking”) is cognate, then the alternation would point to a Pre-Greek origin.

Pronunciation

 

• IPA^(key): /se.lís/ → /seˈlis/ → /seˈlis/

• (5^th BCE Attic) IPA^(key): /se.lís/
• (1^st CE Egyptian) IPA^(key): /seˈlis/
• (4^th CE Koine) IPA^(key): /seˈlis/
• (10^th CE Byzantine) IPA^(key): /seˈlis/
• (15^th CE Constantinopolitan) IPA^(key): /seˈlis/

Noun

σελίς • (selís) f (genitive σελίδος); third declension

1. (architecture) crossbeam of stone in ceiling construction
2. block or sector of seats in a theater
3. rowing bench
4. column of writing in a papyrus roll
5. writing page

Declension

Third declension of ἡ σελῐ́ς; τῆς σελῐ́δος (Attic)

Case / #	Singular	Dual	Plural
Nominative	ἡ σελῐ́ς hē selís	τὼ σελῐ́δε tṑ selíde	αἱ σελῐ́δες hai selídes
Genitive	τῆς σελῐ́δος tês selídos	τοῖν σελῐ́δοιν toîn selídoin	τῶν σελῐ́δων tôn selídōn
Dative	τῇ σελῐ́δῐ têi selídi	τοῖν σελῐ́δοιν toîn selídoin	ταῖς σελῐ́σῐ / σελῐ́σῐν taîs selísi(n)
Accusative	τὴν σελῐ́δᾰ tḕn selída	τὼ σελῐ́δε tṑ selíde	τᾱ̀ς σελῐ́δᾰς tā̀s selídas
Vocative	σελῐ́ς selís	σελῐ́δε selíde	σελῐ́δες selídes
Notes:	This table gives Attic inflectional endings. For declension in other dialects, see Appendix:Ancient Greek dialectal declension. Nominative singular -ς (-s) arose by reduction of the original cluster *-ds.

Derived terms

• σελιδηφάγος (selidēphágos)
• σελίδιον (selídion)
• σελίδωμα (selídōma)

 

Descendants

• Greek: σελίδα (selída)

Further reading

• “σελίς”, in Liddell & Scott (1940) A Greek–English Lexicon, Oxford: Clarendon Press
• σελίς in Bailly, Anatole (1935) Le Grand Bailly: Dictionnaire grec-français, Paris: Hachette
• 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