ψύλλα

Ancient Greek

Alternative forms

Etymology

From Proto-Indo-European *plusy(e)h₂ (“flea”) by metathesis. Cognates include Latin pūlex, Sanskrit प्लुषि (plúṣi), Old Armenian լու (lu), Old English flēah, flēa (English flea), Albanian plesht.

Pronunciation

 

Noun

ψῠ́λλᾰ • (psŭ́llă) f (genitive ψῠ́λλης); first declension

  1. flea
    • 125 CE – 200 CE, Lucian, True Story 1.13:
      τούτων δὲ οἱ μὲν Ψυλλοτοξόται ἐπὶ ψυλλῶν μεγάλων ἱππάζονται, ὅθεν καὶ τὴν προσηγορίαν ἔχουσιν.
      toútōn dè hoi mèn Psullotoxótai epì psullôn megálōn hippázontai, hóthen kaì tḕn prosēgorían ékhousin.
      The flea-archers ride on great fleas, which is also where they get their name from.
  2. type of venomous spider, perhaps a type of widow
  3. type of crop-eating insect

Inflection

First declension of ἡ ψῠ́λλᾰ; τῆς ψῠ́λλης (Attic)
Case / # Singular Dual Plural
Nominative ἡ ψῠ́λλᾰ
hē psŭ́llă 		τὼ ψῠ́λλᾱ
tṑ psŭ́llā 		αἱ ψῠ́λλαι
hai psŭ́llai
Genitive τῆς ψῠ́λλης
tês psŭ́llēs 		τοῖν ψῠ́λλαιν
toîn psŭ́llain 		τῶν ψῠλλῶν
tôn psŭllôn
Dative τῇ ψῠ́λλῃ
tēî psŭ́llēi 		τοῖν ψῠ́λλαιν
toîn psŭ́llain 		ταῖς ψῠ́λλαις
taîs psŭ́llais
Accusative τὴν ψῠ́λλᾰν
tḕn psŭ́llăn 		τὼ ψῠ́λλᾱ
tṑ psŭ́llā 		τᾱ̀ς ψῠ́λλᾱς
tā̀s psŭ́llās
Vocative ψῠ́λλᾰ
psŭ́llă 		ψῠ́λλᾱ
psŭ́llā 		ψῠ́λλαι
psŭ́llai
Notes:
  • This table gives Attic inflectional endings. For declension in other dialects, see Appendix:Ancient Greek dialectal declension.

Derived terms

Descendants

  • → Translingual: Psylla

References

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