σπλήν

Ancient Greek

Etymology

From earlier*σπληχ-(*splēkh-),*σπλαχ-(*splakh-),fromProto-Indo-European,but the exact root remains formally difficult to construct. The root could be*splēǵʰ-,*splēh₁ǵʰ-,*spelǵʰ-or*splēngʰ-.

Cognate withMiddle Irishselg,Old Prussianblusne,Lithuanianblužnis,Latinlien,Old Armenianփայծաղն(pʻaycałn),Avestan𐬯𐬞𐬆𐬭𐬆𐬰𐬀𐬥(spər^əzan),andSanskritप्लीहन्m(plīhán).

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key):/splɛ̌ːn/→/splin/→/splin/

• (5^thBCEAttic)IPA^(key):/splɛ̌ːn/
• (1^stCEEgyptian)IPA^(key):/sple̝n/
• (4^thCEKoine)IPA^(key):/splin/
• (10^thCEByzantine)IPA^(key):/splin/
• (15^thCEConstantinopolitan)IPA^(key):/splin/

Noun

σπλήν•(splḗn)m(genitiveσπληνός);third declension

1. milt,spleen

Inflection

Third declensionofὁσπλήν;τοῦσπληνός(Attic)

Case / #	Singular	Dual	Plural
Nominative	ὁσπλήν ho splḗn	τὼσπλῆνε tṑ splêne	οἱσπλῆνες hoi splênes
Genitive	τοῦσπληνός toû splēnós	τοῖνσπληνοῖν toîn splēnoîn	τῶνσπληνῶν tôn splēnôn
Dative	τῷσπληνῐ́ tôi splēní	τοῖνσπληνοῖν toîn splēnoîn	τοῖςσπλησῐ́/σπλησῐ́ν toîs splēsí(n)
Accusative	τὸνσπλῆνᾰ tòn splêna	τὼσπλῆνε tṑ splêne	τοὺςσπλῆνᾰς toùs splênas
Vocative	σπλήν splḗn	σπλῆνε splêne	σπλῆνες splênes
Notes:	This table gives Attic inflectional endings. For declension in other dialects, seeAppendix:Ancient Greek dialectal declension.

Descendants

• Byzantine Greek:σπλήνα(splḗna)
  • Greek:σπλήναf(splína)
• →Latin:splenm
  • Old French:esplenm,espleen(Anglo-Norman),esplein
    • →Middle English:splene,splen
      • English:spleen(see there for further descendants)
  • →Italian:splene
  • Romanian:splinăf
  • Spanish:esplene

Further reading

• “σπλήν”,inLiddell & Scott (1940)A Greek–English Lexicon,Oxford: Clarendon Press
• σπλήνinBailly, Anatole (1935)Le Grand Bailly: Dictionnaire grec-français,Paris: Hachette
• Woodhouse, S. C. (1910)English–Greek Dictionary: A Vocabulary of the Attic Language‎^[1],London: Routledge & Kegan Paul Limited.
  • miltidem, page 529.
  • spleenidem, page 803.