Σήρ

See also: σήρ

Ancient Greek

Related to σήρ (sḗr, “silkworm”) but otherwise uncertain. Possibly ultimately from Old Chinese 絲 (*sə, “silk”).

Σήρ • (Sḗr) m (genitive Σηρός); third declension

(historical, rare in the singular) Serican, one of the Seres, the people from whom silk was obtained, the North Chinese as known to the ancient Greeks and Romans.
- 64 BCE – 24 CE, Strabo, Geography 11.11.1
- 64 BCE – 24 CE, Strabo, Geography 15.1.34
- 100 CE – 300 CE, Dionysius Periegetes, Periegesis 752
- Ctes., Fr. 86

Third declension of ὁ Σήρ; τοῦ Σηρός (Attic)

Case / #	Singular	Dual	Plural
Nominative	ὁ Σήρ ho Sḗr	τὼ Σῆρε tṑ Sêre	οἱ Σῆρες hoi Sêres
Genitive	τοῦ Σηρός toû Sērós	τοῖν Σηροῖν toîn Sēroîn	τῶν Σηρῶν tôn Sērôn
Dative	τῷ Σηρῐ́ tōî Sērĭ́	τοῖν Σηροῖν toîn Sēroîn	τοῖς Σηρσῐ́ / Σηρσῐ́ν toîs Sērsĭ́(n)
Accusative	τὸν Σῆρᾰ tòn Sêră	τὼ Σῆρε tṑ Sêre	τοὺς Σῆρᾰς toùs Sêrăs
Vocative	Σήρ Sḗr	Σῆρε Sêre	Σῆρες Sêres
Notes:	This table gives Attic inflectional endings. For declension in other dialects, see Appendix:Ancient Greek dialectal declension.

“Σήρ”, in Liddell & Scott (1940) A Greek–English Lexicon, Oxford: Clarendon Press
Monchi-Zadeh, Daoud (1975) “Iranische Miszellen”, in Monumentum H. S. Nyberg (Acta Iranica; 5), Leiden: E.J. Brill, →ISBN, pages 69–72