νόος

Ancient Greek

Alternative forms

νοῦς (noûs) — Attic

Etymology

Of uncertain origin, though likely inherited (as opposed to borrowed from a substrate). Has been compared to Proto-Germanic *snutraz (“wise, clever”), νεύω (neúō, “to nod, grant”), Proto-Indo-European *nes- (“to return home safely”),^[1] νέω (néō, “I spin”) (with sense development "to spin" > "to spin the thread of the mind" > "mind, thought").

Pronunciation

(5^th BCE Attic) IPA^(key): /nó.os/
(1^st CE Egyptian) IPA^(key): /ˈno.os/
(4^th CE Koine) IPA^(key): /ˈno.os/
(10^th CE Byzantine) IPA^(key): /ˈno.os/
(15^th CE Constantinopolitan) IPA^(key): /ˈno.os/

Noun

νόος • (nóos) m (genitive νόου); second declension

mind
1. perception, sense
2. mind as used in feeling, the heart, soul
3. the mind as used in resolving and purposing, will
an act of mind
1. thought
2. purpose, design
the sense or meaning of a word
(in Attic philosophy) intelligence, intellect, reason
(as named by Anaxagoras) the principle which acts on elementary particles of matter

Declension

Second declension of ὁ νόος; τοῦ νόου (Attic)

Case / #	Singular	Dual	Plural
Nominative	ὁ νόος ho nóos	τὼ νόω tṑ nóō	οἱ νόοι hoi nóoi
Genitive	τοῦ νόου toû nóou	τοῖν νόοιν toîn nóoin	τῶν νόων tôn nóōn
Dative	τῷ νόῳ tōî nóōi	τοῖν νόοιν toîn nóoin	τοῖς νόοις toîs nóois
Accusative	τὸν νόον tòn nóon	τὼ νόω tṑ nóō	τοὺς νόους toùs nóous
Vocative	νόε nóe	νόω nóō	νόοι nóoi
Notes:	This table gives Attic inflectional endings. For declension in other dialects, see Appendix:Ancient Greek dialectal declension.

Irregular declension of ὁ νόος; τοῦ νόος (Attic)

Case / #	Singular	Dual	Plural
Nominative	ὁ νόος ho nóos	—	οἱ νόες hoi nóes
Genitive	τοῦ νόος toû nóos	τοῖν νόοιν toîn nóoin	τῶν νόων tôn nóōn
Dative	τῷ νοΐ tōî noḯ	τοῖν νόοιν toîn nóoin	τοῖς νόσῐ / νόσῐν toîs nósĭ(n)
Accusative	τὸν νόᾰ tòn nóă	—	τοὺς νόᾰς toùs nóăs
Vocative	νόε nóe	—	νόες nóes
Notes:	This table gives Attic inflectional endings. For declension in other dialects, see Appendix:Ancient Greek dialectal declension. Third declension only found in later writers

Second declension of νόος; νόου (Epic)

Case / #	Singular	Dual	Plural
Nominative	νόος nóos	νόω nóō	νόοι nóoi
Genitive	νόου / νοοῖο / νόοιο / νοόο / νόοο nóou / nooîo / nóoio / noóo / nóoo	νόοιν / νόοιῐν nóoi(ĭ)n	νόων nóōn
Dative	νόῳ nóōi	νόοιν / νόοιῐν nóoi(ĭ)n	νόοισῐ / νόοισῐν / νόοις nóoisĭ(n) / nóois
Accusative	νόον nóon	νόω nóō	νόους nóous
Vocative	νόε nóe	νόω nóō	νόοι nóoi
Notes:	Dialects other than Attic are not well attested. Some forms may be based on conjecture. Use with caution.

Derived terms

Ἀριστόνοος (Aristónoos)
Αρσινόη (Arsinóē)
Ἀρσίνοος (Arsínoos)
Ἀστύνοος (Astúnoos)
Αὐτονόη (Autonóē)
ἔχω νοῦν (ékhō noûn)
Ἡγησίνους (Hēgēsínous)
νοέω (noéō)
νοόω (noóō)
νουθετέω (nouthetéō)
Πεισινόη (Peisinóē)

Descendants

→ English: nous
Greek: νους (nous)

References

^ Beekes, Robert S. P. (2010) “νόος”, in Etymological Dictionary of Greek (Leiden Indo-European Etymological Dictionary Series; 10), with the assistance of Lucien van Beek, Leiden, Boston: Brill, →ISBN, page 1023