ἔμβρυον

Ancient Greek

Etymology

From ἔμβρῠος (émbrŭos, “growing”), from ἐν (en, “in”) +‎ βρύω (brúō, “swell, grow”), of unclear origin. Compare Sanskrit भ्रूण (bhrūṇá, “embryo, fetus; young one”).

Pronunciation

(5^th BCE Attic) IPA^(key): /ém.bry.on/
(1^st CE Egyptian) IPA^(key): /ˈem.bry.on/
(4^th CE Koine) IPA^(key): /ˈem.bry.on/
(10^th CE Byzantine) IPA^(key): /ˈem.bry.on/
(15^th CE Constantinopolitan) IPA^(key): /ˈem.bri.on/

Noun

ἔμβρῠον • (émbrŭon) n (genitive ἐμβρῠ́ου); second declension

a young one
- 800 BCE – 600 BCE, Homer, Odyssey 9.245
- 800 BCE – 600 BCE, Homer, Odyssey 9.309
- 800 BCE – 600 BCE, Homer, Odyssey 9.342
- 350 BCE, Aristotle, Parts of Animals 3.15.2
embryo, fetus
- 458 BCE, Aeschylus, The Eumenides 945, (Compare Hippocrates of Kos, Aphorisms 1255, Aristotle, Parts of Animals 6.22.18)

Inflection

Second declension of τὸ ἔμβρῠον; τοῦ ἐμβρῠ́ου (Attic)

Case / #	Singular	Dual	Plural
Nominative	τὸ ἔμβρῠον tò émbrŭon	τὼ ἐμβρῠ́ω tṑ embrŭ́ō	τᾰ̀ ἔμβρῠᾰ tằ émbrŭă
Genitive	τοῦ ἐμβρῠ́ου toû embrŭ́ou	τοῖν ἐμβρῠ́οιν toîn embrŭ́oin	τῶν ἐμβρῠ́ων tôn embrŭ́ōn
Dative	τῷ ἐμβρῠ́ῳ tōî embrŭ́ōi	τοῖν ἐμβρῠ́οιν toîn embrŭ́oin	τοῖς ἐμβρῠ́οις toîs embrŭ́ois
Accusative	τὸ ἔμβρῠον tò émbrŭon	τὼ ἐμβρῠ́ω tṑ embrŭ́ō	τᾰ̀ ἔμβρῠᾰ tằ émbrŭă
Vocative	ἔμβρῠον émbrŭon	ἐμβρῠ́ω embrŭ́ō	ἔμβρῠᾰ émbrŭă
Notes:	This table gives Attic inflectional endings. For declension in other dialects, see Appendix:Ancient Greek dialectal declension.

Descendants

→ Greek: έμβρυο (émvryo)
→ Latin: embryo, embryon
- → English: embryo-
- → Italian: embrio-, embrione

References

“ἔμβρυον”, in Liddell & Scott (1940) A Greek–English Lexicon, Oxford: Clarendon Press
“ἔμβρυον”, in Liddell & Scott (1889) An Intermediate Greek–English Lexicon, New York: Harper & Brothers
“ἔμβρυον”, in Autenrieth, Georg (1891) A Homeric Dictionary for Schools and Colleges, New York: Harper and Brothers
ἔμβρυον in Bailly, Anatole (1935) Le Grand Bailly: Dictionnaire grec-français, Paris: Hachette
ἔμβρυον in Cunliffe, Richard J. (1924) A Lexicon of the Homeric Dialect: Expanded Edition, Norman: University of Oklahoma Press, published 1963
ἔμβρυον in the Diccionario Griego–Español en línea (2006–2025)