πύρνος

Ancient Greek

Etymology

The word is obsolete and without etymology. It was compared with πορύναν (porúnan, “kneaded mass, cake”) and τορύνη (torúnē, “kind of grain”) by Fick, adducing Sanskrit चर्वति (carvati, “to eat, chew”) and चूर्ण (cūrṇa, “dust, powder”) as well. This would lead to the reconstruction of Proto-Indo-European *kʷeru-, which requires a pre-form *τερύνα (*terúna) for τορύνη (torúnē). However, this leaves the υ-vowel in πύρνος unexplained. According to Szemerényi, this word is syncopated from πύρινος (púrinos, “made of wheat”), but this is contestable for several reasons. Furnée connects the word with Basque apur (“crumb”); this etymology seems unreliable, but in any case, the word may well be Pre-Greek.

Pronunciation

 

• IPA^(key): /pýr.nos/ → /ˈpyr.nos/ → /ˈpir.nos/

• (5^th BCE Attic) IPA^(key): /pýr.nos/
• (1^st CE Egyptian) IPA^(key): /ˈpyr.nos/
• (4^th CE Koine) IPA^(key): /ˈpyr.nos/
• (10^th CE Byzantine) IPA^(key): /ˈpyr.nos/
• (15^th CE Constantinopolitan) IPA^(key): /ˈpir.nos/

Noun

πῠ́ρνος • (púrnos) m (genitive πῠ́ρνου); second declension

1. morsel, bit

   Synonym: ψωμός (psōmós)

2. kind of one-seeded cereal

Inflection

Second declension of ὁ πῠ́ρνος; τοῦ πῠ́ρνου (Attic)

Case / #	Singular	Dual	Plural
Nominative	ὁ πῠ́ρνος ho púrnos	τὼ πῠ́ρνω tṑ púrnō	οἱ πῠ́ρνοι hoi púrnoi
Genitive	τοῦ πῠ́ρνου toû púrnou	τοῖν πῠ́ρνοιν toîn púrnoin	τῶν πῠ́ρνων tôn púrnōn
Dative	τῷ πῠ́ρνῳ tôi púrnōi	τοῖν πῠ́ρνοιν toîn púrnoin	τοῖς πῠ́ρνοις toîs púrnois
Accusative	τὸν πῠ́ρνον tòn púrnon	τὼ πῠ́ρνω tṑ púrnō	τοὺς πῠ́ρνους toùs púrnous
Vocative	πῠ́ρνε púrne	πῠ́ρνω púrnō	πῠ́ρνοι púrnoi
Notes:	This table gives Attic inflectional endings. For declension in other dialects, see Appendix:Ancient Greek dialectal declension.

Derived terms

• πυρναῖος (purnaîos)
• πύρνον (púrnon)
• πυρνοτόκος (purnotókos)

 

Further reading

• “πύρνος”, in Liddell & Scott (1940) A Greek–English Lexicon, Oxford: Clarendon Press
• 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
• Hesychius' Lexicon: π