Λάχεσις

Ancient Greek

Etymology

The personification of λάχεσις (lákhesis, “obtainment by lot”), from λαχεῖν (lakheîn, “to obtain by lot”) +‎ -σις (-sis, “-ing”), the former being the aorist of λαγχάνειν (lankhánein). The thing obtained is lifetime, represented by Lachesis allocating a certain length of the life-thread spun by Κλωθώ (Klōthṓ) to each individual.

Pronunciation

(5^th BCE Attic) IPA^(key): /lá.kʰe.sis/
(1^st CE Egyptian) IPA^(key): /ˈla.kʰe.sis/
(4^th CE Koine) IPA^(key): /ˈla.çe.sis/
(10^th CE Byzantine) IPA^(key): /ˈla.çe.sis/
(15^th CE Constantinopolitan) IPA^(key): /ˈla.çe.sis/

Proper noun

Λάχεσις • (Lákhesis) f (genitive Λᾰχέσεως); third declension

Lachesis, one of the three Fates

Inflection

Third declension of ἡ Λᾰ́χεσῐς; τῆς Λᾰχέσεως (Attic)

Case / #	Singular
Nominative	ἡ Λᾰ́χεσῐς hē Lắkhesĭs
Genitive	τῆς Λᾰχέσεως tês Lăkhéseōs
Dative	τῇ Λᾰχέσει tēî Lăkhései
Accusative	τὴν Λᾰ́χεσῐν tḕn Lắkhesĭn
Vocative	Λᾰ́χεσῐ Lắkhesĭ
Notes:	This table gives Attic inflectional endings. For declension in other dialects, see Appendix:Ancient Greek dialectal declension.

Descendants

Latin: Lachesis
- English: Lachesis

References

“Λάχεσις”, in Liddell & Scott (1940) A Greek–English Lexicon, Oxford: Clarendon Press
“Λάχεσις”, in Liddell & Scott (1889) An Intermediate Greek–English Lexicon, New York: Harper & Brothers
“Λάχεσις”, in Slater, William J. (1969) Lexicon to Pindar, Berlin: Walter de Gruyter
Woodhouse, S. C. (1910) English–Greek Dictionary: A Vocabulary of the Attic Language‎^[1], London: Routledge & Kegan Paul Limited.
- lachesis idem, page 473.