κιννάμωμον

Ancient Greek

Alternative forms

κίνναμον (kínnamon), κινάμωμον (kinámōmon)

Etymology

According to Herodotus, from Phoenician; compare Hebrew קִנָּמוֹן (kinamón, “cinnamon”). The ending was modelled on that of ἄμωμον (ámōmon, “black cardamom”), or due to folk etymology, on that of ἄμωμος (ámōmos, “blameless”).^[1]

Pronunciation

(5^th BCE Attic) IPA^(key): /kin.ná.mɔː.mon/
(1^st CE Egyptian) IPA^(key): /kinˈna.mo.mon/
(4^th CE Koine) IPA^(key): /cinˈna.mo.mon/
(10^th CE Byzantine) IPA^(key): /cinˈna.mo.mon/
(15^th CE Constantinopolitan) IPA^(key): /ciˈna.mo.mon/

Noun

κῐννᾰ́μωμον • (kĭnnắmōmon) n (genitive κῐννᾰμώμου); second declension

Chinese cinnamon (Cinnamomum cassia)

Inflection

Second declension of τὸ κῐννᾰ́μωμον; τοῦ κῐννᾰμώμου (Attic)

Case / #	Singular	Dual	Plural
Nominative	τὸ κῐννᾰ́μωμον tò kĭnnắmōmon	τὼ κῐννᾰμώμω tṑ kĭnnămṓmō	τᾰ̀ κῐννᾰ́μωμᾰ tằ kĭnnắmōmă
Genitive	τοῦ κῐννᾰμώμου toû kĭnnămṓmou	τοῖν κῐννᾰμώμοιν toîn kĭnnămṓmoin	τῶν κῐννᾰμώμων tôn kĭnnămṓmōn
Dative	τῷ κῐννᾰμώμῳ tōî kĭnnămṓmōi	τοῖν κῐννᾰμώμοιν toîn kĭnnămṓmoin	τοῖς κῐννᾰμώμοις toîs kĭnnămṓmois
Accusative	τὸ κῐννᾰ́μωμον tò kĭnnắmōmon	τὼ κῐννᾰμώμω tṑ kĭnnămṓmō	τᾰ̀ κῐννᾰ́μωμᾰ tằ kĭnnắmōmă
Vocative	κῐννᾰ́μωμον kĭnnắmōmon	κῐννᾰμώμω kĭnnămṓmō	κῐννᾰ́μωμᾰ kĭnnắmōmă
Notes:	This table gives Attic inflectional endings. For declension in other dialects, see Appendix:Ancient Greek dialectal declension.

Derived terms

κινναμολόγος (kinnamológos)
κινναμωμίζω (kinnamōmízō)
κινναμώμινος (kinnamṓminos)
κινναμωμίς (kinnamōmís)
κινναμωμοφόρος (kinnamōmophóros)

Descendants

→ Latin: cinnamōmum (see there for further descendants)
→ Old Armenian: կինամոմոն (kinamomon), կինամոն (kinamon)
- → Armenian: կինամոն (kinamon), կինամոմոն (kinamomon) — rare (learned)
- →? Old Georgian: კინამოჲ (ḳinamoy), კინამომაჲ (ḳinamomay)
  - Middle Georgian: კინამო (ḳinamo)
    - Georgian: კინამო (ḳinamo)

References

^ Beekes, Robert S. P. (2010) “κιννάμωμον”, in Etymological Dictionary of Greek (Leiden Indo-European Etymological Dictionary Series; 10), with the assistance of Lucien van Beek, Leiden, Boston: Brill, →ISBN, pages 700-1

“κιννάμωμον”, in Liddell & Scott (1940) A Greek–English Lexicon, Oxford: Clarendon Press
“κιννάμωμον”, in Liddell & Scott (1889) An Intermediate Greek–English Lexicon, New York: Harper & Brothers
κιννάμωμον in Bailly, Anatole (1935) Le Grand Bailly: Dictionnaire grec-français, Paris: Hachette
Boisacq, Émile (1916) “κιννάμωμον”, in Dictionnaire étymologique de la langue grecque (in French), Heidelberg: Carl Winter, page 457
Löw, Immanuel (1924) Die Flora der Juden‎^[1] (in German), volume 2, Wien und Leipzig: R. Löwit, pages 107–108 is explicit that he reckons the explanation as “Chinese ἄμωμον (ámōmon)” erroneous or a secondary connection

[1] Beekes, Robert S. P. (2010) “κιννάμωμον”, in Etymological Dictionary of Greek (Leiden Indo-European Etymological Dictionary Series; 10), with the assistance of Lucien van Beek, Leiden, Boston: Brill, →ISBN, pages 700-1

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