Ctesiphon

English

Etymology

From Latin Ctēsiphōn, from Ancient Greek Κτησιφῶν (Ktēsiphôn).

Pronunciation

• (Received Pronunciation) IPA^(key): /ˈtɛsɪfɒn/, /ˈstɛsɪfɒn/

Proper noun

Ctesiphon

1. (historical) An ancient capital of Parthia and later of the Sassanid Persian Empire, on the Tigris near Baghdad in present-day Iraq, abandoned in the 7th and 8th centuries.
   • 1947, Robert Frost, “The Ingenuities of Debt”, in Steeple Bush:

     These I assume were words so deeply meant / They cut themselves in stone for permanent / Like trouble in the brow above the eyes: / ‘Take Care to Sell Your Horse before He Dies / The Art of Life Is Passing Losses on.’ / The city saying it was Ctesiphon, / Which may a little while by war and trade / Have kept from being caught with the decayed, / Infirm, worn-out, and broken on its hands; […]

Translations

ancient ruined city

• Ancient Greek: Κτησιφῶν m (Ktēsiphôn)
• Arabic: قُطَيْسَفُون (quṭaysafūn), طَيْسَفُون (ṭaysafūn)
• Aramaic:

  Classical Syriac: ܩܛܝܣܦܘܢ (Qṭēsfōn)

• Armenian: Տիզբոն (Tizbon)

  Old Armenian: Տիզբոն (Tizbon), Տիսբոն (Tisbon)

• Azerbaijani: Ktesifon, Mədain
• Czech: Ktésifón
• French: Ctésiphon (fr) f
• Georgian: please add this translation if you can

  Old Georgian: please add this translation if you can

• German: Ktesiphon n
• Hebrew: קטסיפון
• Italian: Ctesifonte
• Kurdish:

  Central Kurdish: تیسفۆن (tîsfon)

  Northern Kurdish: Tîsfûn

• Latin: Ctēsiphōn f
• Middle Persian: [Book Pahlavi needed] (tyspwn /⁠tēsifōn⁠/)
• Parthian: 𐫤𐫏𐫘𐫛𐫇𐫗 (tyspwn) (Manichaean)
• Persian: تیسفون (tisfun)
• Polish: Ktezyfon (pl) m
• Portuguese: Ctesifonte f
• Russian: Ктесифо́н m (Ktesifón)
• Spanish: Ctesifonte
• Tajik: Тайса­фун (Taysa­fun)
• Turkish: Tizpon

Further reading

• Sasanian Empire on Wikipedia.Wikipedia
• Siege of Ctesiphon (637) on Wikipedia.Wikipedia
• Muslim conquest of Persia on Wikipedia.Wikipedia

Anagrams

• phonetics, sphenotic

Latin

Alternative forms

• Ctēsifōn (Vulgate spelling)

Etymology

From Ancient Greek Κτησιφῶν (Ktēsiphôn). In Old Latin, it was declined as Ctēsiphōn, Ctēsiphōnis.

Pronunciation

• (Classical) IPA^(key): /ˈkteː.si.pʰoːn/, [ˈkt̪eːs̠ɪpʰoːn]
• (modern Italianate Ecclesiastical) IPA^(key): /ˈkte.si.fon/, [ˈkt̪ɛːs̬ifon]

Proper noun

Ctēsiphōn f sg (genitive Ctēsiphōntis); third declension

1. Ctesiphon (the ancient capital of Parthia, in modern Iraq)

Declension

Third-declension noun, with locative, singular only.

Case	Singular
Nominative	Ctēsiphōn
Genitive	Ctēsiphōntis
Dative	Ctēsiphōntī
Accusative	Ctēsiphōntem
Ablative	Ctēsiphōnte
Vocative	Ctēsiphōn
Locative	Ctēsiphōntī Ctēsiphōnte

References

• “Ctesiphon”, in Charlton T. Lewis and Charles Short (1879) A Latin Dictionary, Oxford: Clarendon Press
• Ctesiphon in Gaffiot, Félix (1934) Dictionnaire illustré latin-français, Hachette.