εἰρήνη

See also: ειρήνη, Ειρήνη, and Εἰρήνη

Ancient Greek

Alternative forms

ϝειράνᾱ (weiránā) — Laconian

Etymology

According to Beekes and Chantraine, probably from Pre-Greek.^[1] Older theories link the word to εἴρω (eírō, “to fasten together”) or εἴρω (eírō, “to speak, say”) (compare ῥήτρα (rhḗtra, “verbal agreement, treaty”)).

Pronunciation

(5^th BCE Attic) IPA^(key): /eː.rɛ̌ː.nɛː/
(1^st CE Egyptian) IPA^(key): /iˈre̝.ne̝/
(4^th CE Koine) IPA^(key): /iˈri.ni/
(10^th CE Byzantine) IPA^(key): /iˈri.ni/
(15^th CE Constantinopolitan) IPA^(key): /iˈri.ni/

Noun

εἰρήνη • (eirḗnē) f (genitive εἰρήνης); first declension

peace

Declension

First declension of ἡ εἰρήνη; τῆς εἰρήνης (Attic)

Case / #	Singular	Dual	Plural
Nominative	ἡ εἰρήνη hē eirḗnē	τὼ εἰρήνᾱ tṑ eirḗnā	αἱ εἰρῆναι hai eirênai
Genitive	τῆς εἰρήνης tês eirḗnēs	τοῖν εἰρήναιν toîn eirḗnain	τῶν εἰρηνῶν tôn eirēnôn
Dative	τῇ εἰρήνῃ tēî eirḗnēi	τοῖν εἰρήναιν toîn eirḗnain	ταῖς εἰρήναις taîs eirḗnais
Accusative	τὴν εἰρήνην tḕn eirḗnēn	τὼ εἰρήνᾱ tṑ eirḗnā	τᾱ̀ς εἰρήνᾱς tā̀s eirḗnās
Vocative	εἰρήνη eirḗnē	εἰρήνᾱ eirḗnā	εἰρῆναι eirênai
Notes:	This table gives Attic inflectional endings. For declension in other dialects, see Appendix:Ancient Greek dialectal declension.

First declension of ᾱ̔ ϝειράνᾱ; τᾶς ϝειράνᾱς (Laconian)

Case / #	Singular	Dual	Plural
Nominative	ᾱ̔ ϝειράνᾱ hā weiránā	τὼ ϝειράνᾱ tṑ weiránā	ταὶ ϝειράναι taì weiránai
Genitive	τᾶς ϝειράνᾱς tâs weiránās	τοῖν ϝειράναιν toîn weiránain	τᾶν ϝειρανᾶν tân weiranân
Dative	τᾷ ϝειράνᾳ tāî weiránāi	τοῖν ϝειράναιν toîn weiránain	ταῖς ϝειράναις taîs weiránais
Accusative	τᾱ̀ν ϝειράνᾱν tā̀n weiránān	τὼ ϝειράνᾱ tṑ weiránā	τᾱ̀ς ϝειράνᾱς tā̀s weiránās
Vocative	ϝειράνᾱ weiránā	ϝειράνᾱ weiránā	ϝειράναι weiránai
Notes:	Dialects other than Attic are not well attested. Some forms may be based on conjecture. Use with caution.

Derived terms

εἰρηναῖος (eirēnaîos)
εἰρηνᾰ́ρχης (eirēnắrkhēs)
Εἰρήνη (Eirḗnē)
εἰρηνοφῠ́λᾰξ (eirēnophŭ́lăx)

Descendants

→ Coptic: ⲉⲓⲣⲏⲛⲏ (eirēnē), ⲓⲣⲏⲛⲏ (irēnē), ϩⲓⲣⲏⲛⲏ (hirēnē)
Greek: ειρήνη (eiríni)

References

^ Beekes, Robert S. P. (2010) “εἰρήνη”, in Etymological Dictionary of Greek (Leiden Indo-European Etymological Dictionary Series; 10), with the assistance of Lucien van Beek, Leiden, Boston: Brill, →ISBN, page 391

“εἰρήνη”, in Liddell & Scott (1940) A Greek–English Lexicon, Oxford: Clarendon Press
“εἰρήνη”, in Liddell & Scott (1889) An Intermediate Greek–English Lexicon, New York: Harper & Brothers
“εἰρήνη”, in Autenrieth, Georg (1891) A Homeric Dictionary for Schools and Colleges, New York: Harper and Brothers
εἰρήνη 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
εἰρήνη in Cunliffe, Richard J. (1924) A Lexicon of the Homeric Dialect: Expanded Edition, Norman: University of Oklahoma Press, published 1963
εἰρήνη in the Diccionario Griego–Español en línea (2006–2025)
G1515 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.
- pacification idem, page 588.
- peace idem, page 600.

[1] Beekes, Robert S. P. (2010) “εἰρήνη”, in Etymological Dictionary of Greek (Leiden Indo-European Etymological Dictionary Series; 10), with the assistance of Lucien van Beek, Leiden, Boston: Brill, →ISBN, page 391

[1]