ξίφος

Ancient Greek

Alternative forms

σκῐ́φος (skíphos) – Aeolic

Etymology

Already in Late Mycenaean Greek (Ta-716 from Pylos), attested in the dual 𐀥𐀯𐀟𐀁 (qi-si-pe-e, “two swords”) (mostly ideographically as 𐃉). Probably of non-Greek origin, likely borrowed from Egyptian zft (“sword, knife”).[1] If not, perhaps both are from an Old Semitic saïf or sêf,[2] or from a Libyan or "Sea Peoples" word.[3]

Pronunciation

(5^th BCE Attic) IPA^(key): /ksí.pʰos/
(1^st CE Egyptian) IPA^(key): /ˈksi.pʰos/
(4^th CE Koine) IPA^(key): /ˈksi.ɸos/
(10^th CE Byzantine) IPA^(key): /ˈksi.fos/
(15^th CE Constantinopolitan) IPA^(key): /ˈksi.fos/

Noun

ξῐ́φος • (xíphos) n (genitive ξῐ́φεος or ξῐ́φους); third declension

sword, the short, straight, double-edged sword of the Iron Age and Classical Antiquity.
- 800 BCE – 600 BCE, Homer, Iliad 1.194
1. the sword-shaped bone of the cuttlefish
  - 384 BCE – 322 BCE, Aristotle, History of Animals 4.1.21
  1. swordfish
    - 384 BCE – 322 BCE, Aristotle, Fragments 306
2. corn-flag (Gladiolus italicus)
  Synonym: ξίφιον (xíphion)
  - 371 BCE – 287 BCE, Theophrastus, Enquiry into Plants 7.13.1

Inflection

Third declension of τὸ ξῐ́φος; τοῦ ξῐ́φους (Attic)

Case / #	Singular	Dual	Plural
Nominative	τὸ ξῐ́φος tò xíphos	τὼ ξῐ́φει tṑ xíphei	τᾰ̀ ξῐ́φη tà xíphē
Genitive	τοῦ ξῐ́φους toû xíphous	τοῖν ξῐφοῖν toîn xiphoîn	τῶν ξῐφῶν tôn xiphôn
Dative	τῷ ξῐ́φει tôi xíphei	τοῖν ξῐφοῖν toîn xiphoîn	τοῖς ξῐ́φεσῐ / ξῐ́φεσῐν toîs xíphesi(n)
Accusative	τὸ ξῐ́φος tò xíphos	τὼ ξῐ́φει tṑ xíphei	τᾰ̀ ξῐ́φη tà xíphē
Vocative	ξῐ́φος xíphos	ξῐ́φει xíphei	ξῐ́φη xíphē
Notes:	This table gives Attic inflectional endings. For declension in other dialects, see Appendix:Ancient Greek dialectal declension.

References

ξίφος in Liddell & Scott (1940) A Greek–English Lexicon, Oxford: Clarendon Press
ξίφος in Liddell & Scott (1889) An Intermediate Greek–English Lexicon, New York: Harper & Brothers
ξίφος in Autenrieth, Georg (1891) A Homeric Dictionary for Schools and Colleges, New York: Harper and Brothers
ξίφος in Bailly, Anatole (1935) Le Grand Bailly: Dictionnaire grec-français, Paris: Hachette
ξίφος in Cunliffe, Richard J. (1924) A Lexicon of the Homeric Dialect: Expanded Edition, Norman: University of Oklahoma Press, published 1963
ξίφος in Slater, William J. (1969) Lexicon to Pindar, Berlin: Walter de Gruyter
ξίφος in Trapp, Erich, et al. (1994–2007) Lexikon zur byzantinischen Gräzität besonders des 9.-12. Jahrhunderts [the Lexicon of Byzantine Hellenism, Particularly the 9th–12th Centuries], Verlag der Österreichischen Akademie der Wissenschaften
Woodhouse, S. C. (1910) English–Greek Dictionary: A Vocabulary of the Attic Language‎, London: Routledge & Kegan Paul Limited.
- blade idem, page 81.
- brand idem, page 93.
- rapier idem, page 672.
- sword idem, page 849.
A. Heubeck, 'Mykenisch *qi-si-po- = ξίφος', Minos 6 (1958), 114–116.

Černý, Jaroslav (1976) Coptic Etymological Dictionary, Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, →ISBN
Johannes Dümichen, Historische Inschriften altägyptischer Denkmäler vol. 1, Leipzig (1867), 26-27.
John Linton Myres, Who were the Greeks?, University of California Press, 1930, p. 590

Greek

Etymology

From the Ancient Greek ξίφος (xíphos, s-stem).

Noun

ξίφος • (xífos) n

sword

Synonyms

σπαθί n (spathí)

Derived terms

ξιφασχία f (xifaschía, “fencing”)
ξιφίας m (xifías, “swordfish”)
ξιφίδιο n (xifídio, “dagger”)
ξιφιός m (xifiós, “swordfish”)
ξιφοθήκη f (xifothíki, “scabbard”)
ξιφολόγχη f (xifolónchi, “bayonet”)
ξιφομαχία f (xifomachía, “sword fight”)
ξιφομάχος m (xifomáchos, “swordsman, fencer”)
ξιφομαχώ (xifomachó, “to fence, to fight with swords”)
ξιφουλκώ (xifoulkó, “to draw your sword”)
ξιφοφόρος m (xifofóros, “swordsman”)

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[1] Černý, Jaroslav (1976) Coptic Etymological Dictionary, Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, →ISBN

[2] Johannes Dümichen, Historische Inschriften altägyptischer Denkmäler vol. 1, Leipzig (1867), 26-27.

[3] John Linton Myres, Who were the Greeks?, University of California Press, 1930, p. 590