δραχμή

See also: drachma and drakme

Ancient Greek

Alternative forms

δρᾰχμᾱ́ (drăkhmā́) — Doric
δᾰρχμή (dărkhmḗ) — Epic

Etymology

Typically derived as a verbal noun (“holding”) of δράσσομαι (drássomai, “to hold, to seize”). Beekes, however, argues that the existence of the variants δαρχμά (darkhmá) and δαρχνά (darkhná) means δραχ- (drakh-) and δαρχ- (darkh-) do not continue the zero-grade of Proto-Hellenic *dr̥kʰ- and instead derive from an otherwise unknown Pre-Greek substrate term.^[1]

Pronunciation

(5^th BCE Attic) IPA^(key): /drakʰ.mɛ̌ː/
(1^st CE Egyptian) IPA^(key): /drakʰˈme̝/
(4^th CE Koine) IPA^(key): /ðraxˈmi/
(10^th CE Byzantine) IPA^(key): /ðraxˈmi/
(15^th CE Constantinopolitan) IPA^(key): /ðraxˈmi/

Noun

δρᾰχμή • (drăkhmḗ) f (genitive δρᾰχμῆς); first declension

Inflection

First declension of ἡ δρᾰχμή; τῆς δρᾰχμῆς (Attic)

Case / #	Singular	Dual	Plural
Nominative	ἡ δρᾰχμή hē drăkhmḗ	τὼ δρᾰχμᾱ́ tṑ drăkhmā́	αἱ δρᾰχμαί hai drăkhmaí
Genitive	τῆς δρᾰχμῆς tês drăkhmês	τοῖν δρᾰχμαῖν toîn drăkhmaîn	τῶν δρᾰχμῶν tôn drăkhmôn
Dative	τῇ δρᾰχμῇ tēî drăkhmēî	τοῖν δρᾰχμαῖν toîn drăkhmaîn	ταῖς δρᾰχμαῖς taîs drăkhmaîs
Accusative	τὴν δρᾰχμήν tḕn drăkhmḗn	τὼ δρᾰχμᾱ́ tṑ drăkhmā́	τᾱ̀ς δρᾰχμᾱ́ς tā̀s drăkhmā́s
Vocative	δρᾰχμή drăkhmḗ	δρᾰχμᾱ́ drăkhmā́	δρᾰχμαί drăkhmaí
Notes:	This table gives Attic inflectional endings. For declension in other dialects, see Appendix:Ancient Greek dialectal declension.

First declension of ᾱ̔ δραχμᾱ́; τᾶς δραχμᾶς (Doric)

Case / #	Singular	Dual	Plural
Nominative	ᾱ̔ δραχμᾱ́ hā drakhmā́	τὼ δραχμᾱ́ tṑ drakhmā́	ταὶ δραχμαί taì drakhmaí
Genitive	τᾶς δραχμᾶς tâs drakhmâs	τοῖν δραχμαῖν toîn drakhmaîn	τᾶν δραχμᾶν tân drakhmân
Dative	τᾷ δραχμᾷ tāî drakhmāî	τοῖν δραχμαῖν toîn drakhmaîn	ταῖς δραχμαῖς taîs drakhmaîs
Accusative	τᾱ̀ν δραχμᾱ́ν tā̀n drakhmā́n	τὼ δραχμᾱ́ tṑ drakhmā́	τᾱ̀ς δραχμᾱ́ς tā̀s drakhmā́s
Vocative	δραχμᾱ́ drakhmā́	δραχμᾱ́ drakhmā́	δραχμαί drakhmaí
Notes:	Dialects other than Attic are not well attested. Some forms may be based on conjecture. Use with caution.

Descendants

Greek: δραχμή (drachmí)
- → Turkish: drahmi
→ Bactrian: δραχμο (drakhmo), δδραχμο (ddrakhmo)
→ Khotanese: [script needed] (draṃmaa-)
→ Latin: drachma (see there for further descendants)
→ Middle Persian: 𐭦𐭥𐭦𐭭 (ZWZN /⁠drahm⁠/), 𐫅𐫡𐫍𐫖 (drhm /⁠drahm⁠/) (see there for further descendants)
→ Old Armenian: դրաքմայ (drakʻmay), դրաքմէ (drakʻmē), դրագմէ (dragmē)
→ Sanskrit: द्रम्म (drámma) (see there for further descendants)
→ Sogdian: [script needed] (δrγmh /⁠δraxm(a)⁠/)

References

^ Beekes, Robert S. P. (2010) “δραχμή”, in Etymological Dictionary of Greek (Leiden Indo-European Etymological Dictionary Series; 10), with the assistance of Lucien van Beek, Leiden, Boston: Brill, →ISBN, page 352

Greek

Etymology

From Ancient Greek δραχμή (drakhmḗ).

Noun

δραχμή • (drachmí) f (plural δραχμές)

(historical) drachma (former Greek currency 1833-2002)
(obsolete or historical) drachma (an ancient unit of weight)

Declension

Declension of **δραχμή**
	singular	plural
nominative	δραχμή (drachmí)	δραχμές (drachmés)
genitive	δραχμής (drachmís)	δραχμών (drachmón)
accusative	δραχμή (drachmí)	δραχμές (drachmés)
vocative	δραχμή (drachmí)	δραχμές (drachmés)

Coordinate terms

λεπτό m (leptó, “cent”)

Descendants

→ Turkish: drahmi

δραχμή

Ancient Greek

Alternative forms

Etymology

Pronunciation

Noun

Inflection

Descendants

References

Further reading

Greek

Etymology

Noun

Declension

Coordinate terms

Descendants

Further reading