δέσποινα

Ancient Greek

Etymology

From Proto-Hellenic *déspoňňa, from Proto-Indo-European *déms pótnih₂ (lady of the house). Cognate with Avestan 𐬛𐬆𐬨𐬄𐬥𐬋.𐬞𐬀𐬚𐬥𐬍 (dəmąnō.paθnī, mistress, housekeeper) and Persian بانو (bânu, lady). Female counterpart of δεσπότης (despótēs, lord). By surface analysis, δεσπότης (despótēs) +‎ -ινα (-ina).[1]

Pronunciation

 

Noun

δέσποινα • (déspoinaf (genitive δεσποίνης); first declension

  1. lady, mistress
  2. princess, queen
  3. owneress
    • 2022 May 18, Seumas Macdonald, chapter 2, in Linguae Graecae Per Se Illustrata[1]:
      ἡ δὲ Εὐγενίᾱ δέσποινά ἐστι τῶν δουλῶν.
      hē dè Eugeníā déspoiná esti tôn doulôn.
      Eugenia is the owneress of the female slaves.

Inflection

References

  1. ^ Beekes, Robert S. P. (2010) “δεσπότης”, in Etymological Dictionary of Greek (Leiden Indo-European Etymological Dictionary Series; 10), with the assistance of Lucien van Beek, Leiden, Boston: Brill, →ISBN, page 319

Further reading

Greek

Etymology

Learned borrowing from Ancient Greek δέσποινα (déspoina, lady of the house, mistress), female counterpart to δεσπότης (despótēs). Compare to Δέσποινα f (Déspoina, Lady (epithet for Holy Mary); feminine name).

Pronunciation

  • IPA(key): /ˈðe.spi.na/
  • Hyphenation: δέ‧σποι‧να

Noun

δέσποινα • (déspoinaf (plural δέσποινες)

  1. (dated) a most revered lady, Lady of … (also used figuratively)
    Synonyms: (demotic) κυρά (kyrá), αφέντρα (aféntra)
    δέσποινα των λογισμώνdéspoina ton logismón(please add an English translation of this usage example) (κυρά (kyrá) των λογισμών)
  2. for the feminine name and Holy Mary's epithet see Δέσποινα (Déspoina)

Declension

Declension of δέσποινα
singular plural
nominative δέσποινα (déspoina) δέσποινες (déspoines)
genitive δέσποινας (déspoinas) -
accusative δέσποινα (déspoina) δέσποινες (déspoines)
vocative δέσποινα (déspoina) δέσποινες (déspoines)

Derived terms

  • δεσποινάριο n (despoinário, diminutive) (dated, jocular)

Compounds:

Further reading