κεφαλή
Ancient Greek
Etymology
From Proto-Hellenic *kʰepʰəlā́, from Proto-Indo-European *gʰebʰ-l̥ (“head”) + *-éh₂ (“nominal suffix”).[1] Compare κεβλή (keblḗ). False cognate of Sanskrit कपाल (kapāla).
Pronunciation
- (5th BCE Attic) IPA(key): /ke.pʰa.lɛ̌ː/
- (1st CE Egyptian) IPA(key): /ke.pʰaˈle̝/
- (4th CE Koine) IPA(key): /ce.ɸaˈli/
- (10th CE Byzantine) IPA(key): /ce.faˈli/
- (15th CE Constantinopolitan) IPA(key): /ce.faˈli/
Noun
κεφᾰλή • (kephălḗ) f (genitive κεφᾰλῆς); first declension
- head
- Synonym: κάρᾱ (kárā)
- a person's life (often in the sense of being in danger, similar to the English idiom "head is on the line").
- the topmost part
- the most important part
- (Byzantine) a provincial governor
Declension
| Case / # | Singular | Dual | Plural | ||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Nominative | ἡ κεφᾰλή hē kephălḗ |
τὼ κεφᾰλᾱ́ tṑ kephălā́ |
αἱ κεφᾰλαί hai kephălaí | ||||||||||
| Genitive | τῆς κεφᾰλῆς tês kephălês |
τοῖν κεφᾰλαῖν toîn kephălaîn |
τῶν κεφᾰλῶν tôn kephălôn | ||||||||||
| Dative | τῇ κεφᾰλῇ tēî kephălēî |
τοῖν κεφᾰλαῖν toîn kephălaîn |
ταῖς κεφᾰλαῖς taîs kephălaîs | ||||||||||
| Accusative | τὴν κεφᾰλήν tḕn kephălḗn |
τὼ κεφᾰλᾱ́ tṑ kephălā́ |
τᾱ̀ς κεφᾰλᾱ́ς tā̀s kephălā́s | ||||||||||
| Vocative | κεφᾰλή kephălḗ |
κεφᾰλᾱ́ kephălā́ |
κεφᾰλαί kephălaí | ||||||||||
| Notes: |
| ||||||||||||
Derived terms
- ἀκέφαλος (aképhalos)
- ἀμφικέφαλος (amphiképhalos)
- ἀποκεφαλίζω (apokephalízō)
- κεφάλαιος (kephálaios)
- κεφαλῖνος (kephalînos)
- κεφάλιον (kephálion)
- κεφαλόρριζον (kephalórrhizon)
Descendants
References
- ^ Beekes, Robert S. P. (2010), “κεφαλή”, in Etymological Dictionary of Greek (Leiden Indo-European Etymological Dictionary Series; 10), with the assistance of Lucien van Beek, Leiden, Boston: Brill, →ISBN, page 682
Further reading
- “κεφαλή”, in Liddell & Scott (1940), A Greek–English Lexicon, Oxford: Clarendon Press
- “κεφαλή”, in Liddell & Scott (1889), An Intermediate Greek–English Lexicon, New York: Harper & Brothers
- “κεφαλή”, in Autenrieth, Georg (1891), A Homeric Dictionary for Schools and Colleges, New York: Harper and Brothers
- κεφαλή in Bailly, Anatole (1935), Le Grand Bailly: Dictionnaire grec-français, Paris: Hachette
- Bauer, Walter et al. (2001), A Greek–English Lexicon of the New Testament and Other Early Christian Literature, Third edition, Chicago: University of Chicago Press
- κεφαλή in Cunliffe, Richard J. (1924), A Lexicon of the Homeric Dialect: Expanded Edition, Norman: University of Oklahoma Press, published 1963
- G2776 in Strong, James (1979), Strong’s Exhaustive Concordance to the Bible
- κεφαλή 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[1], London: Routledge & Kegan Paul Limited.
- head idem, page 389.
- κεφαλή, in ΛΟΓΕΙΟΝ [Logeion] Dictionaries for Ancient Greek and Latin (in English, French, Spanish, German, Dutch and Chinese), University of Chicago, since 2011
Greek
Etymology
Learned borrowing from Ancient Greek κεφαλή (kephalḗ). Doublet of κεφάλι (kefáli), inherited from a diminutive form.
Pronunciation
- IPA(key): /ce.faˈli/
- Hyphenation: κε‧φα‧λή
Noun
κεφαλή • (kefalí) f (plural κεφαλές)
- (formal) synonym of κεφάλι (kefáli)
Declension
| singular | plural | |
|---|---|---|
| nominative | κεφαλή (kefalí) | κεφαλές (kefalés) |
| genitive | κεφαλής (kefalís) | κεφαλών (kefalón) |
| accusative | κεφαλή (kefalí) | κεφαλές (kefalés) |
| vocative | κεφαλή (kefalí) | κεφαλές (kefalés) |
Further reading
- κεφαλή, in Λεξικό της κοινής νεοελληνικής [Dictionary of Standard Modern Greek], Triantafyllidis Foundation, 1998 at the Centre for the Greek language