βρίμη
Ancient Greek
Etymology
Probably based on βρι- in βριαρός (briarós, “strong”) and βρίθω (bríthō, “to be heavy or weighed down with”). As these words are rare, their meanings are not quite clear. The assumption that the original meaning was "heaviness, vehemence, energy" is partly based on the wrong etymological connection with βαρύς (barús, “heavy”). Pre-Greek origin is proven by Furnée, who connects the word with φριμάσσομαι (phrimássomai, “to snort and leap”), the whole group of βρι- and with ὄβριμος (óbrimos, “strong, mighty”).
Pronunciation
- (5th BCE Attic) IPA(key): /brǐː.mɛː/
- (1st CE Egyptian) IPA(key): /ˈbri.me̝/
- (4th CE Koine) IPA(key): /ˈβri.mi/
- (10th CE Byzantine) IPA(key): /ˈvri.mi/
- (15th CE Constantinopolitan) IPA(key): /ˈvri.mi/
Noun
βρῑ́μη • (brī́mē) f (genitive βρῑ́μης); first declension
- strength, might, power
- Synonym: ῥώμη (rhṓmē)
- bellowing, roaring
- threat, menace
- Synonym: ἀπειλή (apeilḗ)
- womanly vice
Inflection
| Case / # | Singular | Dual | Plural | ||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Nominative | ἡ βρῑ́μη hē brī́mē |
τὼ βρῑ́μᾱ tṑ brī́mā |
αἱ βρῖμαι hai brîmai | ||||||||||
| Genitive | τῆς βρῑ́μης tês brī́mēs |
τοῖν βρῑ́μαιν toîn brī́main |
τῶν βρῑμῶν tôn brīmôn | ||||||||||
| Dative | τῇ βρῑ́μῃ tēî brī́mēi |
τοῖν βρῑ́μαιν toîn brī́main |
ταῖς βρῑ́μαις taîs brī́mais | ||||||||||
| Accusative | τὴν βρῑ́μην tḕn brī́mēn |
τὼ βρῑ́μᾱ tṑ brī́mā |
τᾱ̀ς βρῑ́μᾱς tā̀s brī́mās | ||||||||||
| Vocative | βρῑ́μη brī́mē |
βρῑ́μᾱ brī́mā |
βρῖμαι brîmai | ||||||||||
| Notes: |
| ||||||||||||
Derived terms
- βρῑμᾰ́ζω (brīmắzō)
- βρῑμαίνω (brīmaínō)
- βρῑμᾰ́ομαι (brīmắomai)
- βρῑ́μημᾰ (brī́mēmă)
- βρῑμόβρῠχος (brīmóbrŭkhos)
- Βρῑμώ (Brīmṓ)
- βρῑμώδης (brīmṓdēs)
- βρῑ́μωσῐς (brī́mōsĭs)
Further reading
- “βρίμη”, in Liddell & Scott (1940) A Greek–English Lexicon, Oxford: Clarendon Press
- “βρίμη”, in Liddell & Scott (1889) An Intermediate Greek–English Lexicon, New York: Harper & Brothers
- βρίμη in Bailly, Anatole (1935) Le Grand Bailly: Dictionnaire grec-français, Paris: Hachette
- βρίμη in the Diccionario Griego–Español en línea (2006–2025)
- Beekes, Robert S. P. (2010) Etymological Dictionary of Greek (Leiden Indo-European Etymological Dictionary Series; 10), with the assistance of Lucien van Beek, Leiden, Boston: Brill, →ISBN