χνόος

Ancient Greek

Alternative forms

χνοῦς (khnoûs) — Attic

Etymology

Related to χνόη (khnóē, “axle-box”). Both words have been connected to χναύω (khnaúō, “to nibble”) and χνίω (khníō, “to break in small pieces”). Reasonable connections can then be found in Old Norse gnúa (“to rub”) and Proto-Slavic *gnusъ, which point to Proto-Indo-European *gnew-. Otherwise perhaps from Proto-Indo-European *knew- (“to scrape, scratch; to rub”) and related to κνίζω (knízō, “to pound, grate”) and κνύω (knúō, “to scratch”), with expressive aspiration; or from *ksnew-. Compare also μνόος (mnóos, “fine, soft down”).

Pronunciation

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

Noun

χνόος • (khnóos) m (genitive χνόου); second declension

incrustation from salt water
powder, dust of the earth
wool pulled for stuffing cushions, flock
first down on the chin or cheeks
bloom on fruits

Inflection

Second declension of ὁ χνόος; τοῦ χνόου (Attic)

Case / #	Singular	Dual	Plural
Nominative	ὁ χνόος ho khnóos	τὼ χνόω tṑ khnóō	οἱ χνόοι hoi khnóoi
Genitive	τοῦ χνόου toû khnóou	τοῖν χνόοιν toîn khnóoin	τῶν χνόων tôn khnóōn
Dative	τῷ χνόῳ tōî khnóōi	τοῖν χνόοιν toîn khnóoin	τοῖς χνόοις toîs khnóois
Accusative	τὸν χνόον tòn khnóon	τὼ χνόω tṑ khnóō	τοὺς χνόους toùs khnóous
Vocative	χνόε khnóe	χνόω khnóō	χνόοι khnóoi
Notes:	This table gives Attic inflectional endings. For declension in other dialects, see Appendix:Ancient Greek dialectal declension.

Derived terms

κᾰλᾰμόχνοος (kălămókhnoos)
χνοᾰ́ζω (khnoắzō)
χνοᾰ́ω (khnoắō)
χνόϊος (khnóïos)
χνοώδης (khnoṓdēs)

Descendants

Greek: χνούδι (chnoúdi)