Ὠκεανός

See also: Ωκεανός, ωκεανός, and ὠκεανός

Ancient Greek

Etymology

Uncertain, though generally acknowledged to be a non-Indo-European substrate loan, with Beekes noting that the concept of a "world-river" is not native to Indo-European mythology. A possible relationship with the Semitic root ʕ-w-g (“to be crooked, tortuous”) has been discussed. (This etymology is missing or incomplete. Please add to it, or discuss it at the Etymology scriptorium. Particularly: “What are some examples of Semitic words with this root?”) Another possibility includes a derivation from unattested Sumerian *A-ki-an(u) (Water of the Land and Heaven).

Beekes suggests a Pre-Greek form *ūkʲān-. Michael Janda has reminded the scientific community of an earlier comparison with the Vedic dragon Vṛtra's attribute āśáyāna- “lying on [the waters]”, claiming it to be an exact phonetical transposition of the Greek word, both stemming from Proto-Indo-European *ō-ḱey-m̥[h₁]no- (“lying on”), related to κεῖμαι (keîmai, “to lie”).

Pronunciation

 

• IPA^(key): /ɔː.ke.a.nós/ → /o.ce.aˈnos/ → /o.ce.aˈnos/

• (5^th BCE Attic) IPA^(key): /ɔː.ke.a.nós/
• (1^st CE Egyptian) IPA^(key): /o.ke.aˈnos/
• (4^th CE Koine) IPA^(key): /o.ce.aˈnos/
• (10^th CE Byzantine) IPA^(key): /o.ce.aˈnos/
• (15^th CE Constantinopolitan) IPA^(key): /o.ce.aˈnos/

• Hyphenation: Ὠ‧κε‧α‧νός

Proper noun

Ὠκεᾰνός • (Ōkeanós) m (genitive Ὠκεᾰνοῦ); second declension

1. Oceanus, a Greek water god usually said to be a Titan, one of the sons of Uranus and Gaia.
2. The great freshwater river thought to encompass the world
3. The great saline outer sea (the Atlantic), as opposed to the Mediterranean.

Inflection

Second declension of ὁ Ὠκεᾰνός; τοῦ Ὠκεᾰνοῦ (Attic)

Case / #	Singular	Dual	Plural
Nominative	ὁ Ὠκεᾰνός ho Ōkeanós	τὼ Ὠκεᾰνώ tṑ Ōkeanṓ	οἱ Ὠκεᾰνοί hoi Ōkeanoí
Genitive	τοῦ Ὠκεᾰνοῦ toû Ōkeanoû	τοῖν Ὠκεᾰνοῖν toîn Ōkeanoîn	τῶν Ὠκεᾰνῶν tôn Ōkeanôn
Dative	τῷ Ὠκεᾰνῷ tôi Ōkeanôi	τοῖν Ὠκεᾰνοῖν toîn Ōkeanoîn	τοῖς Ὠκεᾰνοῖς toîs Ōkeanoîs
Accusative	τὸν Ὠκεᾰνόν tòn Ōkeanón	τὼ Ὠκεᾰνώ tṑ Ōkeanṓ	τοὺς Ὠκεᾰνούς toùs Ōkeanoús
Vocative	Ὠκεᾰνέ Ōkeané	Ὠκεᾰνώ Ōkeanṓ	Ὠκεᾰνοί Ōkeanoí
Notes:	This table gives Attic inflectional endings. For declension in other dialects, see Appendix:Ancient Greek dialectal declension.

Second declension of Ὠκεᾰνός; Ὠκεᾰνοῦ (Epic)

Case / #	Singular	Dual	Plural
Nominative	Ὠκεᾰνός Ōkeanós	Ὠκεᾰνώ Ōkeanṓ	Ὠκεᾰνοί Ōkeanoí
Genitive	Ὠκεᾰνοῦ / Ὠκεᾰνοῖο / Ὠκεᾰνόο Ōkeanoû / Ōkeanoîo / Ōkeanóo	Ὠκεᾰνοῖῐν Ōkeanoîin	Ὠκεᾰνῶν Ōkeanôn
Dative	Ὠκεᾰνῷ Ōkeanôi	Ὠκεᾰνοῖῐν Ōkeanoîin	Ὠκεᾰνοῖσῐ / Ὠκεᾰνοῖσῐν / Ὠκεᾰνοῖς Ōkeanoîsi(n) / Ōkeanoîs
Accusative	Ὠκεᾰνόν Ōkeanón	Ὠκεᾰνώ Ōkeanṓ	Ὠκεᾰνούς Ōkeanoús
Vocative	Ὠκεᾰνέ Ōkeané	Ὠκεᾰνώ Ōkeanṓ	Ὠκεᾰνοί Ōkeanoí
Notes:	Dialects other than Attic are not well attested. Some forms may be based on conjecture. Use with caution.

Derived terms

• Ὠκεᾰνῐ́ς (Ōkeanís)

Descendants

• → English: ocean, Ocean, Oceanus, Okeanos
• Greek: Ωκεανός (Okeanós)
• → Latin: Ōceanus, Ōcianus (Old Latin)
  • French: Océan
  • Italian: Oceano
  • Portuguese: Oceano
  • Sicilian: Ucìanu
• → Russian: океа́н (okeán)
• → Turkish: Okyanus
• → Arabic: أُوقْيَانُوس (ʔūqyānūs)

Further reading

• “Ὠκεανός”, in Liddell & Scott (1940) A Greek–English Lexicon, Oxford: Clarendon Press
• “Ὠκεανός”, in Liddell & Scott (1889) An Intermediate Greek–English Lexicon, New York: Harper & Brothers
• “Ὠκεανός”, in Autenrieth, Georg (1891) A Homeric Dictionary for Schools and Colleges, New York: Harper and Brothers
• “Ὠκεανός”, in Slater, William J. (1969) Lexicon to Pindar, Berlin: Walter de Gruyter
• Woodhouse, S. C. (1910) English–Greek Dictionary: A Vocabulary of the Attic Language‎^[1], London: Routledge & Kegan Paul Limited, page 1,018
• Michael Janda: Die Musik nach dem Chaos. Der Schöpfungsmythos der europäischen Vorzeit. Institut für Sprachwissenschaft der Universität Innsbruck, Innsbruck 2010, p. 57 ff.