βόαξ

Ancient Greek

Alternative forms

βόηξ (bóēx) — Ionic
βῶξ (bôx) — Ionic (later)
βόωψ (bóōps) — Byzantine

Etymology

Of unclear origin. An old folk etymology derives the word from βοῦς (boûs, “ox”) +‎ ὤψ (ṓps, “eye”); another folk theory considers the word onomatopoeic for the fish's ability to cry.^[1]

Pronunciation

(5^th BCE Attic) IPA^(key): /bó.aːks/
(1^st CE Egyptian) IPA^(key): /ˈbo.aks/
(4^th CE Koine) IPA^(key): /ˈβo.aks/
(10^th CE Byzantine) IPA^(key): /ˈvo.aks/
(15^th CE Constantinopolitan) IPA^(key): /ˈvo.aks/

Noun

βόᾱξ • (bóāx) m (genitive βόᾱκος); third declension

bogue (Boops boops) (small fish)

Declension

Third declension of ὁ βόᾱξ; τοῦ βόᾱκος (Attic)

Case / #	Singular	Dual	Plural
Nominative	ὁ βόᾱξ ho bóāx	τὼ βόᾱκε tṑ bóāke	οἱ βόᾱκες hoi bóākes
Genitive	τοῦ βόᾱκος toû bóākos	τοῖν βοᾱ́κοιν toîn boā́koin	τῶν βοᾱ́κων tôn boā́kōn
Dative	τῷ βόᾱκῐ tōî bóākĭ	τοῖν βοᾱ́κοιν toîn boā́koin	τοῖς βόᾱξῐ / βόᾱξῐν toîs bóāxĭ(n)
Accusative	τὸν βόᾱκᾰ tòn bóākă	τὼ βόᾱκε tṑ bóāke	τοὺς βόᾱκᾰς toùs bóākăs
Vocative	βόᾱξ bóāx	βόᾱκε bóāke	βόᾱκες bóākes
Notes:	This table gives Attic inflectional endings. For declension in other dialects, see Appendix:Ancient Greek dialectal declension.

Descendants

Greek: γόπα (gópa)
→ Latin: bōca
- → Catalan: boga

References

^ Beekes, Robert S. P. (2010) “βόᾱξ”, in Etymological Dictionary of Greek (Leiden Indo-European Etymological Dictionary Series; 10), with the assistance of Lucien van Beek, Leiden, Boston: Brill, →ISBN, pages 223-4

“βόαξ”, in Liddell & Scott (1940) A Greek–English Lexicon, Oxford: Clarendon Press
“βόαξ”, in Liddell & Scott (1889) An Intermediate Greek–English Lexicon, New York: Harper & Brothers
βόαξ in Bailly, Anatole (1935) Le Grand Bailly: Dictionnaire grec-français, Paris: Hachette
Bauer, Walter et al. (2001) A Greek–English Lexicon of the New Testament and Other Early Christian Literature, Third edition, Chicago: University of Chicago Press
βόαξ in the Diccionario Griego–Español en línea (2006–2025)
G225 in Strong, James (1979) Strong’s Exhaustive Concordance to the Bible
Woodhouse, S. C. (1910) English–Greek Dictionary: A Vocabulary of the Attic Language‎^[1], London: Routledge & Kegan Paul Limited.

[1] Beekes, Robert S. P. (2010) “βόᾱξ”, in Etymological Dictionary of Greek (Leiden Indo-European Etymological Dictionary Series; 10), with the assistance of Lucien van Beek, Leiden, Boston: Brill, →ISBN, pages 223-4

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