σικύα

Ancient Greek

Alternative forms

σικύη (sikúē) (Ionic)
σεκούα (sekoúa), συκύα (sukúa) (Hesychius)

Etymology

For plant names in -ύα, compare οἰσύα (oisúa), ὀστρύα (ostrúa). The Hesychius gloss σεκούα (sekoúa), as well as the toponym Σικυών (Sikuṓn)/Σεκυών (Sekuṓn), shows an alternation σικ-/σεκ-, which cannot be explained from an Indo-European point of view, but rather from substrate/Pre-Greek. Together with the forms συκύα (sukúa), κύκυον (kúkuon) and κυκύϊζα (kukúïza, “sweet round gourd”), as well as Latin cucumis (“cucumber”), Old Armenian սեխ (sex, “muskmelon”) and Proto-Slavic *tyky (“pumpkin”) it seems that we are dealing with a Wanderwort that might also have Semitic and Kartvelian cognates, like Arabic قِثَّاء (qiṯṯāʔ, “Cucumis”), Akkadian 𒄾 (qiššû, “cucumber”), Hebrew קשוא (qiššūʾ, “Armenian cucumber”), Laz შუკა (şuǩa, “cucumber; melon”), Mingrelian შინკა (šinḳa, “melon”).

Noun

σῐκῠ́ᾱ • (sĭkŭ́ā) f (genitive σῐκῠ́ᾱς); first declension

bottle gourd (Benincasa hispida, syn. Lagenaria vulgaris)
round gourd (Cucurbita maxima)
gourd used as a calabash
cupping-instrument, because it was shaped like a gourd

Inflection

First declension of ἡ σῐκῠ́ᾱ; τῆς σῐκῠ́ᾱς (Attic)

Case / #	Singular	Dual	Plural
Nominative	ἡ σῐκῠ́ᾱ hē sĭkŭ́ā	τὼ σῐκῠ́ᾱ tṑ sĭkŭ́ā	αἱ σῐκῠ́αι hai sĭkŭ́ai
Genitive	τῆς σῐκῠ́ᾱς tês sĭkŭ́ās	τοῖν σῐκῠ́αιν toîn sĭkŭ́ain	τῶν σῐκῠῶν tôn sĭkŭôn
Dative	τῇ σῐκῠ́ᾳ tēî sĭkŭ́āi	τοῖν σῐκῠ́αιν toîn sĭkŭ́ain	ταῖς σῐκῠ́αις taîs sĭkŭ́ais
Accusative	τὴν σῐκῠ́ᾱν tḕn sĭkŭ́ān	τὼ σῐκῠ́ᾱ tṑ sĭkŭ́ā	τᾱ̀ς σῐκῠ́ᾱς tā̀s sĭkŭ́ās
Vocative	σῐκῠ́ᾱ sĭkŭ́ā	σῐκῠ́ᾱ sĭkŭ́ā	σῐκῠ́αι sĭkŭ́ai
Notes:	This table gives Attic inflectional endings. For declension in other dialects, see Appendix:Ancient Greek dialectal declension.

Synonyms

κολοκῠ́νθη (kolokŭ́nthē)

Derived terms

σῐκῠᾰ́ζω (sĭkŭắzō)
σῐκῠ́ᾰσῐς (sĭkŭ́ăsĭs)
σῐκῠᾰσμός (sĭkŭăsmós)
σῐκῠᾰστήρῐον (sĭkŭăstḗrĭon)
σικυών (sikuṓn)