Κίρκη

Ancient Greek

Etymology

From κίρκος (kírkos, “falcon”). Compare Old Norse gýgr (“ogress, witch”) and Icelandic gýgur (“troll-woman, ogress”).

Pronunciation

 

• IPA^(key): /kír.kɛː/ → /ˈcir.ci/ → /ˈcir.ci/

• (5^th BCE Attic) IPA^(key): /kír.kɛː/
• (1^st CE Egyptian) IPA^(key): /ˈkir.ke̝/
• (4^th CE Koine) IPA^(key): /ˈcir.ci/
• (10^th CE Byzantine) IPA^(key): /ˈcir.ci/
• (15^th CE Constantinopolitan) IPA^(key): /ˈcir.ci/

Proper noun

Κίρκη • (Kírkē) f (genitive Κίρκης); first declension

1. Circe, a name, particularly the sorceress who appears in Homer's Odyssey.

Inflection

First declension of ἡ Κίρκη; τῆς Κίρκης (Attic)

Case / #	Singular
Nominative	ἡ Κίρκη hē Kírkē
Genitive	τῆς Κίρκης tês Kírkēs
Dative	τῇ Κίρκῃ têi Kírkēi
Accusative	τὴν Κίρκην tḕn Kírkēn
Vocative	Κίρκη Kírkē
Notes:	This table gives Attic inflectional endings. For declension in other dialects, see Appendix:Ancient Greek dialectal declension.

Descendants

• Greek: Κίρκη (Kírki)
• → Latin: Circē, Circā
  • → Catalan: Circe
  • → English: Circe
  • → French: Circé
  • → Italian: Circe
  • → Sicilian: Circi
  • → Spanish: Circe

Further reading

• “Κίρκη”, in Liddell & Scott (1940) A Greek–English Lexicon, Oxford: Clarendon Press
• “Κίρκη”, in Liddell & Scott (1889) An Intermediate Greek–English Lexicon, New York: Harper & Brothers
• “Κίρκη”, in Autenrieth, Georg (1891) A Homeric Dictionary for Schools and Colleges, New York: Harper and Brothers
• Woodhouse, S. C. (1910) English–Greek Dictionary: A Vocabulary of the Attic Language‎^[1], London: Routledge & Kegan Paul Limited, page 1,006