κύκνος

See also: Κύκνος

Ancient Greek

Etymology

Perhaps from a Proto-Indo-European *ḱewk- (“white”), with cognates including Sanskrit शोचति (śócati) and शुक्र (śukrá), and possibly Old Norse Hǿnir (“god associated with swans and storks”). Could also be onomatopoeic from the sound of the swan's call (compare Russian кы-кы (ky-ky, “cry of a swan”)).

Pronunciation

 

• IPA^(key): /ký.knos/ → /ˈcy.knos/ → /ˈci.knos/

• (5^th BCE Attic) IPA^(key): /ký.knos/
• (1^st CE Egyptian) IPA^(key): /ˈky.knos/
• (4^th CE Koine) IPA^(key): /ˈcy.knos/
• (10^th CE Byzantine) IPA^(key): /ˈcy.knos/
• (15^th CE Constantinopolitan) IPA^(key): /ˈci.knos/

Noun

κύκνος • (kúknos) m (genitive κύκνου); second declension

1. swan
2. type of ship

Inflection

Second declension of ὁ κῠ́κνος; τοῦ κῠ́κνου (Attic)

Case / #	Singular	Dual	Plural
Nominative	ὁ κῠ́κνος ho kúknos	τὼ κῠ́κνω tṑ kúknō	οἱ κῠ́κνοι hoi kúknoi
Genitive	τοῦ κῠ́κνου toû kúknou	τοῖν κῠ́κνοιν toîn kúknoin	τῶν κῠ́κνων tôn kúknōn
Dative	τῷ κῠ́κνῳ tôi kúknōi	τοῖν κῠ́κνοιν toîn kúknoin	τοῖς κῠ́κνοις toîs kúknois
Accusative	τὸν κῠ́κνον tòn kúknon	τὼ κῠ́κνω tṑ kúknō	τοὺς κῠ́κνους toùs kúknous
Vocative	κῠ́κνε kúkne	κῠ́κνω kúknō	κῠ́κνοι kúknoi
Notes:	This table gives Attic inflectional endings. For declension in other dialects, see Appendix:Ancient Greek dialectal declension.

Descendants

• → Latin: cycnus
• ⇒ Latin: cygnus
• → Arabic: قُقْنُس (quqnus), قُقْنُوس (quqnūs)
  • → Persian: ققنوس, ققنس (qaqnos)
    • → Urdu: ققنس (qaqnus)
• ⇒ Classical Syriac: ܩܘܩܢܘܣ (qūqnōs), ܩܘܩܢܣ (/⁠qwqns⁠/), ܩܝܩܝܢܘܣ (/⁠qyqynws⁠/)
• → Old Armenian: կիկնոս (kiknos), կիւկնոս (kiwknos)

References

• “κύκνος”, in Liddell & Scott (1940) A Greek–English Lexicon, Oxford: Clarendon Press
• “κύκνος”, in Liddell & Scott (1889) An Intermediate Greek–English Lexicon, New York: Harper & Brothers
• “κύκνος”, in Autenrieth, Georg (1891) A Homeric Dictionary for Schools and Colleges, New York: Harper and Brothers
• κύκνος in Bailly, Anatole (1935) Le Grand Bailly: Dictionnaire grec-français, Paris: Hachette
• κύκνος in Cunliffe, Richard J. (1924) A Lexicon of the Homeric Dialect: Expanded Edition, Norman: University of Oklahoma Press, published 1963
• Woodhouse, S. C. (1910) English–Greek Dictionary: A Vocabulary of the Attic Language‎^[1], London: Routledge & Kegan Paul Limited.
  • cycnus idem, page 193.
  • swan idem, page 846.

Greek

Etymology

From Ancient Greek κύκνος (kúknos).

Noun

κύκνος • (kýknos) m (plural κύκνοι)

1. (ornithology) swan, Cygnus

Declension

	singular	plural
nominative	κύκνος (kýknos)	κύκνοι (kýknoi)
genitive	κύκνου (kýknou)	κύκνων (kýknon)
accusative	κύκνο (kýkno)	κύκνους (kýknous)
vocative	κύκνε (kýkne)	κύκνοι (kýknoi)

Derived terms

• αγριόκυκνος m (agriókyknos, “whooper swan”)
• κοινός κύκνος m (koinós kýknos, “mute swan”)
• νανόκυκνος m (nanókyknos, “Bewick's swan”)

Further reading

• Κύκνος (πτηνό) on the Greek Wikipedia.Wikipedia ^el