ἅβρα

Ancient Greek

Alternative forms

ἄβρα (ábra)

Etymology

According to Beekes, from ἁβρός (habrós, “delicate, graceful”). However, a Semitic origin has been proposed, comparing this word with Hebrew חֲבֵרָה (ḥăḇērāh, “female friend, female companion”) and Classical Syriac ܚܒܪܐ (ḥaḇrā, “male friend, male companion”).

Pronunciation

(5^th BCE Attic) IPA^(key): /há.bra/
(1^st CE Egyptian) IPA^(key): /ˈ(h)a.bra/
(4^th CE Koine) IPA^(key): /ˈa.βra/
(10^th CE Byzantine) IPA^(key): /ˈa.vra/
(15^th CE Constantinopolitan) IPA^(key): /ˈa.vra/

Noun

ἅβρᾰ • (hábră) f (genitive ἅβρᾱς); first declension

female slave working for a woman, favourite slave

Inflection

First declension of ἡ ᾰ̔́βρᾰ; τῆς ᾰ̔́βρᾱς (Attic)

Case / #	Singular	Dual	Plural
Nominative	ἡ ᾰ̔́βρᾰ hē hắbră	τὼ ᾰ̔́βρᾱ tṑ hắbrā	αἱ ᾰ̔́βραι hai hắbrai
Genitive	τῆς ᾰ̔́βρᾱς tês hắbrās	τοῖν ᾰ̔́βραιν toîn hắbrain	τῶν ᾰ̔βρῶν tôn hăbrôn
Dative	τῇ ᾰ̔́βρᾳ tēî hắbrāi	τοῖν ᾰ̔́βραιν toîn hắbrain	ταῖς ᾰ̔́βραις taîs hắbrais
Accusative	τὴν ᾰ̔́βρᾰν tḕn hắbrăn	τὼ ᾰ̔́βρᾱ tṑ hắbrā	τᾱ̀ς ᾰ̔́βρᾱς tā̀s hắbrās
Vocative	ᾰ̔́βρᾰ hắbră	ᾰ̔́βρᾱ hắbrā	ᾰ̔́βραι hắbrai
Notes:	This table gives Attic inflectional endings. For declension in other dialects, see Appendix:Ancient Greek dialectal declension.

Descendants

→ Old Armenian: աբրայ (abray)

References

“ἅβρα”, in Liddell & Scott (1940) A Greek–English Lexicon, Oxford: Clarendon Press
ἅβρα in Bailly, Anatole (1935) Le Grand Bailly: Dictionnaire grec-français, Paris: Hachette
ἅβρα in the Diccionario Griego–Español en línea (2006–2025)
Beekes, Robert S. P. (2010) Etymological Dictionary of Greek (Leiden Indo-European Etymological Dictionary Series; 10), with the assistance of Lucien van Beek, Leiden, Boston: Brill, →ISBN