ἀχράς

Ancient Greek

Alternative forms

ἀχλᾰ́ς (akhlắs)

Etymology

Connected to ἄχερδος (ákherdos, “wild pear”). According to Beekes, a Pre-Greek origin is exposed by the alternation ἀ-χερδ- beside ἀ-χραδ-.^[1] While the alternation can also be understood in Indo-European terms, the word for “pear” must be suspect of loanword origin due to the Caucasian heimat of the plant, and indeed it appears reflected in, for instance, Ossetian кӕрдо (kærdo, “pear”), and thence even as far as Kipchak كرتما (kärtmä, “pear”).

Pronunciation

(5^th BCE Attic) IPA^(key): /a.kʰrás/
(1^st CE Egyptian) IPA^(key): /aˈkʰras/
(4^th CE Koine) IPA^(key): /aˈxras/
(10^th CE Byzantine) IPA^(key): /aˈxras/
(15^th CE Constantinopolitan) IPA^(key): /aˈxras/

Noun

ἀχρᾰ́ς • (akhrắs) f (genitive ἀχρᾰ́δος); third declension

wild pear (Pyrus amygdaliformis)
Synonyms: ἄπιος (ápios), ἄχερδος (ákherdos), ὄγχνη (ónkhnē)

Declension

Third declension of ἡ ἀχρᾰ́ς; τῆς ἀχρᾰ́δος (Attic)

Case / #	Singular	Dual	Plural
Nominative	ἡ ἀχρᾰ́ς hē akhrắs	τὼ ἀχρᾰ́δε tṑ akhrắde	αἱ ἀχρᾰ́δες hai akhrắdes
Genitive	τῆς ἀχρᾰ́δος tês akhrắdos	τοῖν ἀχρᾰ́δοιν toîn akhrắdoin	τῶν ἀχρᾰ́δων tôn akhrắdōn
Dative	τῇ ἀχρᾰ́δῐ tēî akhrắdĭ	τοῖν ἀχρᾰ́δοιν toîn akhrắdoin	ταῖς ἀχρᾰ́σῐ / ἀχρᾰ́σῐν taîs akhrắsĭ(n)
Accusative	τὴν ἀχρᾰ́δᾰ tḕn akhrắdă	τὼ ἀχρᾰ́δε tṑ akhrắde	τᾱ̀ς ἀχρᾰ́δᾰς tā̀s akhrắdăs
Vocative	ἀχρᾰ́ς akhrắs	ἀχρᾰ́δε akhrắde	ἀχρᾰ́δες akhrắdes
Notes:	This table gives Attic inflectional endings. For declension in other dialects, see Appendix:Ancient Greek dialectal declension. Nominative singular -ς (-s) arose by reduction of the original cluster *-ds.

Derived terms

ἀχράδινος (akhrádinos)

References

^ Beekes, Robert S. P. (2010) “ἀχράς, -άδος”, in Etymological Dictionary of Greek (Leiden Indo-European Etymological Dictionary Series; 10), with the assistance of Lucien van Beek, Leiden, Boston: Brill, →ISBN, page 185