δίκη

See also: Δίκη, δίκῃ, and δική

Ancient Greek

Etymology

Inherited from Proto-Hellenic *díkā, from Proto-Indo-European *díḱeh₂, from the root *deyḱ- (“to point, show”). Doublet of δείκνῡμῐ (deíknūmĭ, “to show”). Compare Sanskrit दिशा (diśā).^[1]

Pronunciation

(5^th BCE Attic) IPA^(key): /dí.kɛː/
(1^st CE Egyptian) IPA^(key): /ˈdi.ke̝/
(4^th CE Koine) IPA^(key): /ˈði.ci/
(10^th CE Byzantine) IPA^(key): /ˈði.ci/
(15^th CE Constantinopolitan) IPA^(key): /ˈði.ci/

Noun

δῐ́κη • (dĭ́kē) f (genitive δῐ́κης); first declension

custom, manner, fashion
order, law, right
judgment, justice
lawsuit, trial
punishment, penalty, vengeance, satisfaction

Declension

First declension of ἡ δῐ́κη; τῆς δῐ́κης (Attic)

Case / #	Singular	Dual	Plural
Nominative	ἡ δῐ́κη hē dĭ́kē	τὼ δῐ́κᾱ tṑ dĭ́kā	αἱ δῐ́και hai dĭ́kai
Genitive	τῆς δῐ́κης tês dĭ́kēs	τοῖν δῐ́καιν toîn dĭ́kain	τῶν δῐκῶν tôn dĭkôn
Dative	τῇ δῐ́κῃ tēî dĭ́kēi	τοῖν δῐ́καιν toîn dĭ́kain	ταῖς δῐ́καις taîs dĭ́kais
Accusative	τὴν δῐ́κην tḕn dĭ́kēn	τὼ δῐ́κᾱ tṑ dĭ́kā	τᾱ̀ς δῐ́κᾱς tā̀s dĭ́kās
Vocative	δῐ́κη dĭ́kē	δῐ́κᾱ dĭ́kā	δῐ́και dĭ́kai
Notes:	This table gives Attic inflectional endings. For declension in other dialects, see Appendix:Ancient Greek dialectal declension.

Derived terms

Ἀγνοδίκη (Agnodíkē)
ἄδικος (ádikos)
Ἀρχεδίκη (Arkhedíkē)
Ἀρχέδικος (Arkhédikos)
δικάζω (dikázō)
Δικαίαρχος (Dikaíarkhos)
δίκαιος (díkaios)
δίκην δίδωμι (díkēn dídōmi, “to be punished”)
ἔκδικος (ékdikos)
Εὐρυδίκη (Eurudíkē)
Λυσιδίκη (Lusidíkē)
Χαλκιδική (Khalkidikḗ)

Descendants

Greek: δίκη (díki)
→ Latin: dica

References

^ Beekes, Robert S. P. (2010) “δίκη”, in Etymological Dictionary of Greek (Leiden Indo-European Etymological Dictionary Series; 10), with the assistance of Lucien van Beek, Leiden, Boston: Brill, →ISBN, pages 334–335

Further reading

“δίκη”, in Liddell & Scott (1940) A Greek–English Lexicon, Oxford: Clarendon Press
“δίκη”, in Liddell & Scott (1889) An Intermediate Greek–English Lexicon, New York: Harper & Brothers
“δίκη”, in Autenrieth, Georg (1891) A Homeric Dictionary for Schools and Colleges, New York: Harper and Brothers
δίκη 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
δίκη in Cunliffe, Richard J. (1924) A Lexicon of the Homeric Dialect: Expanded Edition, Norman: University of Oklahoma Press, published 1963
δίκη in the Diccionario Griego–Español en línea (2006–2025)
G1349 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.
- accusation idem, page 8.
- action idem, page 9.
- amends idem, page 27.
- arbitration idem, page 38.
- case idem, page 116.
- cause idem, page 118.
- civil idem, page 133.
- finding idem, page 321.
- judgment idem, page 465.
- justice idem, page 466.
- lawsuit idem, page 480.
- litigation idem, page 495.
- mediation idem, page 521.
- proceeding idem, page 644.
- process idem, page 644.
- question idem, page 665.
- right idem, page 714.
- suit idem, page 836.
- trial idem, page 893.
- undefended idem, page 912.
- verdict idem, page 948.
δίκη, in ΛΟΓΕΙΟΝ [Logeion] Dictionaries for Ancient Greek and Latin (in English, French, Spanish, German, Dutch and Chinese), University of Chicago, since 2011

Greek

Etymology

From Ancient Greek δίκη (díkē).

Pronunciation

IPA^(key): /ˈði.ci/

Noun

δίκη • (díki) f (plural δίκες)

(law) trial

Declension

Declension of **δίκη**
	singular	plural
nominative	δίκη (díki)	δίκες (díkes)
genitive	δίκης (díkis)	δικών (dikón)
accusative	δίκη (díki)	δίκες (díkes)
vocative	δίκη (díki)	δίκες (díkes)

Related terms

αγδίκιωτος (agdíkiotos, “unrevenged”, adjective)
ακριβοδίκαιος (akrivodíkaios, “scrupulously fair”)
ανεκδίκαστος (anekdíkastos, “untried”)
ανεκδίκητος (anekdíkitos, “unrevenged”, adjective)
αρχιδικαστής (archidikastís, “chief justice”)
δίκαια (díkaia, “fairly, justly”)
δίκαιο n (díkaio, “law”)
δίκαιος (díkaios, “right, just”, adjective)
δικαιοσύνη f (dikaiosýni, “judicial system”)
δικαιούμαι (dikaioúmai, “be entitled to”)
δικαίωμα n (dikaíoma, “right, power”)
δικαιώνομαι (dikaiónomai, “to be vindicated”)
δικαιώνω (dikaióno, “to justify”)
δικαίως (dikaíos, “fairly, justly”)
δικανικός (dikanikós, “forensic”, adjective)
δικαστήριο (dikastírio, “court, tribunal”)
δικαστήριο n (dikastírio, “court”)
δικαστής m or f (dikastís, “judge”)
δικαστικός m or f (dikastikós, “magistrate”)
δικαστίνα f (dikastína, “lawyer”, colloquial)
δικηγορικός (dikigorikós, “lawyer's”, adjective)
δικηγόρος m or f (dikigóros, “lawyer”)
δίκιο n (díkio, “that which is right, just”)
τελεσίδικος (telesídikos, “unappealable”, adjective)

Further reading

δίκη, in Λεξικό της κοινής νεοελληνικής [Dictionary of Standard Modern Greek], Triantafyllidis Foundation, 1998 at the Centre for the Greek language