ὕμνος

Ancient Greek

Etymology

Of uncertain origin. One theory derives the word from a Proto-Indo-European *sh₂em- (“to sing”) (which has itself been suggested as related to *sh₂ey- (“to bind, fetter”), as a "bond of sound"), comparing Hittite [script needed] (išḫamai, “he sings”), Sanskrit सामन् (sā́man, “song”), Sanskrit सुम्न (sumná, “hymn”). Other conjectures include a derivation from a Proto-Indo-European *syuH-mn-o-s, interpreted as a "construction of songs", from *syewh₁- (“to sew”), or a relation to the same root as ῠ̔μήν (hŭmḗn, “membrane; wedding-cry”).^[1]

Pronunciation

(5^th BCE Attic) IPA^(key): /hým.nos/
(1^st CE Egyptian) IPA^(key): /ˈ(h)ym.nos/
(4^th CE Koine) IPA^(key): /ˈym.nos/
(10^th CE Byzantine) IPA^(key): /ˈym.nos/
(15^th CE Constantinopolitan) IPA^(key): /ˈim.nos/

Noun

ῠ̔́μνος • (hŭ́mnos) m (genitive ῠ̔́μνου); second declension

song, hymn, ode (generally in praise of the gods or heroes)

Inflection

Second declension of ὁ ῠ̔́μνος; τοῦ ῠ̔́μνου (Attic)

Case / #	Singular	Dual	Plural
Nominative	ὁ ῠ̔́μνος ho hŭ́mnos	τὼ ῠ̔́μνω tṑ hŭ́mnō	οἱ ῠ̔́μνοι hoi hŭ́mnoi
Genitive	τοῦ ῠ̔́μνου toû hŭ́mnou	τοῖν ῠ̔́μνοιν toîn hŭ́mnoin	τῶν ῠ̔́μνων tôn hŭ́mnōn
Dative	τῷ ῠ̔́μνῳ tōî hŭ́mnōi	τοῖν ῠ̔́μνοιν toîn hŭ́mnoin	τοῖς ῠ̔́μνοις toîs hŭ́mnois
Accusative	τὸν ῠ̔́μνον tòn hŭ́mnon	τὼ ῠ̔́μνω tṑ hŭ́mnō	τοὺς ῠ̔́μνους toùs hŭ́mnous
Vocative	ῠ̔́μνε hŭ́mne	ῠ̔́μνω hŭ́mnō	ῠ̔́μνοι hŭ́mnoi
Notes:	This table gives Attic inflectional endings. For declension in other dialects, see Appendix:Ancient Greek dialectal declension.

Derived terms

εὔυμνος (eúumnos)
Πολύμνια (Polúmnia)
πολύυμνος (polúumnos)
ὑμναγόρης (humnagórēs)
ὑμναγωγός (humnagōgós)
ὑμνάοιδος (humnáoidos)
ὑμνάριον (humnárion)
ὑμνέω (humnéō)
ὑμνηπολέω (humnēpoléō)
ὕμνησις (húmnēsis)
ὑμνήστρια (humnḗstria)
ὑμνητέον (humnētéon)
ὑμνητήρ (humnētḗr)
ὑμνητής (humnētḗs)
ὑμνητικός (humnētikós)
ὑμνητός (humnētós)
ὑμνήτρια (humnḗtria)
ὑμνητρίς (humnētrís)
ὑμνικός (humnikós)
ὑμνίωμες (humníōmes)
ὑμνοάνασσα (humnoánassa)
ὑμνοβρυής (humnobruḗs)
ὑμνογράφος (humnográphos)
ὑμνοδιδάσκαλος (humnodidáskalos)
ὑμνοθέτης (humnothétēs)
ὑμνολογέω (humnologéō)
ὑμνολόγια (humnológia)
ὑμνολογία (humnología)
ὑμνολογίζω (humnologízō)
ὑμνολόγος (humnológos)
ὑμνοποιός (humnopoiós)
ὑμνοπολεύω (humnopoleúō)
ὑμνοπόλος (humnopólos)
ὑμνοτήιαι (humnotḗiai)
ὑμνοτόκος (humnotókos)
ὑμνόφιλος (humnóphilos)
ὑμνῳδάρχης (humnōidárkhēs)
ὑμνῳδεῖον (humnōideîon)
ὑμνῳδέω (humnōidéō)
ὑμνώδης (humnṓdēs)
ὑμνῳδία (humnōidía)
ὑμνῳδός (humnōidós)
φίλυμνος (phílumnos)

Descendants

Greek: ύμνος m (ýmnos)
→ Georgian: ჰიმნი (himni)
→ Latin: hymnus m
- → Czech: hymnus m
- → Friulian: imni m
- → Hungarian: himnusz
- → Italian: inno m
- → Old English: ymen
  - Middle English: ymne, ympne, impne, ymyn
    - English: hymn
    - Scots: hime
  - → Middle Welsh: emynn
    - Welsh: emyn m
- → Old French: ymne m or f
  - Middle French: hymne, hynne
    - French: hymne m or f
      - → Romanian: imn n
- → Old Galician-Portuguese: yno
  - Galician: himno m
  - Portuguese: hino m
- → Polish: hymn m inan
  - →? Belarusian: гімн m inan (himn)
  - → Russian: гимн m inan (gimn) (likely)
    - → Armenian: հիմն (himn)
    - → Bashkir: гимн (gimn)
    - → Crimean Tatar: gimn
    - → Georgian: ჰიმნი (himni), გიმნი (gimni) — informal, proscribed
    - → Kazakh: gïmn
    - → Kildin Sami: гӣммн (gīmmn)
    - → Urum: гимн
    - → Uzbek: gimn
  - →? Ukrainian: гімн m inan (himn)
- → Spanish: himno m

References

^ Beekes, Robert S. P. (2010) “ὕμνος”, in Etymological Dictionary of Greek (Leiden Indo-European Etymological Dictionary Series; 10), with the assistance of Lucien van Beek, Leiden, Boston: Brill, →ISBN, pages 1531-2

“ὕμνος”, in Liddell & Scott (1940) A Greek–English Lexicon, Oxford: Clarendon Press
“ὕμνος”, in Liddell & Scott (1889) An Intermediate Greek–English Lexicon, New York: Harper & Brothers
“ὕμνος”, in Autenrieth, Georg (1891) A Homeric Dictionary for Schools and Colleges, New York: Harper and Brothers
ὕμνος in Bailly, Anatole (1935) Le Grand Bailly: Dictionnaire grec-français, Paris: Hachette
Bauer, Walter et al. (2001) A Greek–English Lexicon of the New Testament and Other Early Christian Literature, Third edition, Chicago: University of Chicago Press
ὕμνος in Cunliffe, Richard J. (1924) A Lexicon of the Homeric Dialect: Expanded Edition, Norman: University of Oklahoma Press, published 1963
“ὕμνος”, in Slater, William J. (1969) Lexicon to Pindar, Berlin: Walter de Gruyter
G5215 in Strong, James (1979) Strong’s Exhaustive Concordance to the Bible
Woodhouse, S. C. (1910) English–Greek Dictionary: A Vocabulary of the Attic Language‎^[1], London: Routledge & Kegan Paul Limited.
- anthem idem, page 32.
- chant idem, page 124.
- hymn idem, page 412.
- ode idem, page 569.
- song idem, page 793.
ὕμνος, in ΛΟΓΕΙΟΝ [Logeion] Dictionaries for Ancient Greek and Latin (in English, French, Spanish, German, Dutch and Chinese), University of Chicago, since 2011

[1] Beekes, Robert S. P. (2010) “ὕμνος”, in Etymological Dictionary of Greek (Leiden Indo-European Etymological Dictionary Series; 10), with the assistance of Lucien van Beek, Leiden, Boston: Brill, →ISBN, pages 1531-2

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