ἤπειρος

See also: ήπειρος, Ήπειρος, and Ἤπειρος

Ancient Greek

Alternative forms

ᾱ̓́πειρος (ā́peiros) — Doric
ἄπερρος (áperrhos) — Aeolic

Etymology

From Proto-Hellenic *ā́peřřos, from Proto-Indo-European *Heh₂per- (Beekes) or *h₂eh₁/h₂per-io- (Kroonen). Cognates include Proto-Germanic *ōferaz and possibly Old Armenian ափն (apʻn); see those for more. If the appurtenance of Armenian is accepted, we may be dealing with a heteroclitic r/n-stem.

According to Specht apud Olsen, this Indo-European root is a vrddhi derivative from the etymon of Sanskrit अपर (ápara, “posterior, later, latter”).

In relation with al. Ufer, asaj. ōfer 'firm land'

Pronunciation

(5^th BCE Attic) IPA^(key): /ɛ̌ː.peː.ros/
(1^st CE Egyptian) IPA^(key): /ˈe̝.pi.ros/
(4^th CE Koine) IPA^(key): /ˈi.pi.ros/
(10^th CE Byzantine) IPA^(key): /ˈi.pi.ros/
(15^th CE Constantinopolitan) IPA^(key): /ˈi.pi.ros/

Noun

ἤπειρος • (ḗpeiros) f (genitive ἠπείρου); second declension

mainland, land
The mainland of Greece
continent
inland areas (as opposed to coastal areas)

Inflection

Second declension of ἡ ἤπειρος; τῆς ἠπείρου (Attic)

Case / #	Singular	Dual	Plural
Nominative	ἡ ἤπειρος hē ḗpeiros	τὼ ἠπείρω tṑ ēpeírō	αἱ ἤπειροι hai ḗpeiroi
Genitive	τῆς ἠπείρου tês ēpeírou	τοῖν ἠπείροιν toîn ēpeíroin	τῶν ἠπείρων tôn ēpeírōn
Dative	τῇ ἠπείρῳ têi ēpeírōi	τοῖν ἠπείροιν toîn ēpeíroin	ταῖς ἠπείροις taîs ēpeírois
Accusative	τὴν ἤπειρον tḕn ḗpeiron	τὼ ἠπείρω tṑ ēpeírō	τᾱ̀ς ἠπείρους tā̀s ēpeírous
Vocative	ἤπειρε ḗpeire	ἠπείρω ēpeírō	ἤπειροι ḗpeiroi
Notes:	This table gives Attic inflectional endings. For declension in other dialects, see Appendix:Ancient Greek dialectal declension.

Second declension of ἤπειρος; ἠπείρου (Epic)

Case / #	Singular	Dual	Plural
Nominative	ἤπειρος ḗpeiros	ἠπείρω ēpeírō	ἤπειροι ḗpeiroi
Genitive	ἠπείρου / ἠπειροῖο / ἠπείροιο / ἠπειρόο / ἠπείροο ēpeírou / ēpeiroîo / ēpeíroio / ēpeiróo / ēpeíroo	ἠπείροιῐν ēpeíroiin	ἠπείρων ēpeírōn
Dative	ἠπείρῳ ēpeírōi	ἠπείροιῐν ēpeíroiin	ἠπείροισῐ / ἠπείροισῐν / ἠπείροις ēpeíroisi(n) / ēpeírois
Accusative	ἤπειρον ḗpeiron	ἠπείρω ēpeírō	ἠπείρους ēpeírous
Vocative	ἤπειρε ḗpeire	ἠπείρω ēpeírō	ἤπειροι ḗpeiroi
Notes:	Dialects other than Attic are not well attested. Some forms may be based on conjecture. Use with caution.

Derived terms

ἤπειρόνδε (ḗpeirónde)
Ἤπειρος (Ḗpeiros)
ἠπειρώτης (ēpeirṓtēs)

Descendants

Greek: ήπειρος (ípeiros)
→ English: eperopolis

“ἤπειρος”, in Liddell & Scott (1940) A Greek–English Lexicon, Oxford: Clarendon Press
“ἤπειρος”, in Liddell & Scott (1889) An Intermediate Greek–English Lexicon, New York: Harper & Brothers
“ἤπειρος”, in Autenrieth, Georg (1891) A Homeric Dictionary for Schools and Colleges, New York: Harper and Brothers
ἤπειρος in Bailly, Anatole (1935) Le Grand Bailly: Dictionnaire grec-français, Paris: Hachette
ἤπειρος in Cunliffe, Richard J. (1924) A Lexicon of the Homeric Dialect: Expanded Edition, Norman: University of Oklahoma Press, published 1963
Woodhouse, S. C. (1910) English–Greek Dictionary: A Vocabulary of the Attic Language‎^[1], London: Routledge & Kegan Paul Limited.
- continent idem, page 168.
- epirus idem, page 279.
- land idem, page 475.
- mainland idem, page 508.
Guus Kroonen (2013) “*ōf(e)ra-”, in Alexander Lubotsky, editor, Etymological Dictionary of Proto-Germanic (Leiden Indo-European Etymological Dictionary Series; 11)‎^[2], Leiden, Boston: Brill, →ISBN, page 394
Beekes, Robert S. P. (2010) “ἤπειρος”, in Etymological Dictionary of Greek (Leiden Indo-European Etymological Dictionary Series; 10), volume I, with the assistance of Lucien van Beek, Leiden, Boston: Brill, →ISBN, page 523
Olsen, Birgit Anette (1999) The noun in Biblical Armenian: origin and word-formation: with special emphasis on the Indo-European heritage (Trends in linguistics. Studies and monographs; 119), Berlin, New York: Mouton de Gruyter, page 136
Pokorny, Julius (1959) “āpero-”, in Indogermanisches etymologisches Wörterbuch [Indo-European Etymological Dictionary] (in German), volume 1, Bern, München: Francke Verlag, page 53