κύμβη

Ancient Greek

Pronunciation

 

Etymology 1

A wanderwort not inherited from Indo-European but perhaps borrowed from (or from the source of) words like Proto-Indo-Iranian *kʰumbʰás (pot) (whence Sanskrit कुम्भ (kumbha, pitcher, jar)), Proto-Celtic *kumbā (valley), etc. Furnee considers it a Pre-Greek borrowing and compares κύπη (kúpē, kind of ship).

Noun

κύμβη • (kúmbēf (genitive κύμβης); first declension

  1. Hollow of a vessel: drinking cup, bowl.
    1. (Phoenician) Boat.
    2. Knapsack, wallet.
Inflection
Descendants
  • Latin: cymba (boat)

Etymology 2

Noun

κύμβη • (kúmbēf (genitive κύμβης); first declension

  1. synonym of κύβη (kúbē) Head; hence, a kind of bird, perhaps tumbler-pigeon.
Inflection

References

Further reading