χήρα

Ancient Greek

Alternative forms
  • χήρη (khḗrē) — Ionic

Etymology

This word replaced the old word for "widow" found in Latin vidua; a cognate of this is retained in ἠΐθεος (ēḯtheos, “unmarried youth”). It is assumed that the origin of this word is Proto-Indo-European *ǵʰeh₁ro- (“derelict”), from the root *ǵʰeh₁- (“to leave behind, abandon”); compare Sanskrit जहाति (jahāti, “to desert, leave, resign”) and Latin hērēs (“heir”).

Pronunciation
 

Noun

χήρᾱ • (khḗrā) f (genitive χήρᾱς); first declension

  1. widow

Declension
First declension of ἡ χήρᾱ; τῆς χήρᾱς (Attic)
Case / # Singular Dual Plural
Nominative ἡ χήρᾱ
hē khḗrā		 τὼ χήρᾱ
tṑ khḗrā		 αἱ χῆραι
hai khêrai
Genitive τῆς χήρᾱς
tês khḗrās		 τοῖν χήραιν
toîn khḗrain		 τῶν χηρῶν
tôn khērôn
Dative τῇ χήρᾳ
têi khḗrāi		 τοῖν χήραιν
toîn khḗrain		 ταῖς χήραις
taîs khḗrais
Accusative τὴν χήρᾱν
tḕn khḗrān		 τὼ χήρᾱ
tṑ khḗrā		 τᾱ̀ς χήρᾱς
tā̀s khḗrās
Vocative χήρᾱ
khḗrā		 χήρᾱ
khḗrā		 χῆραι
khêrai
Notes:
  • This table gives Attic inflectional endings. For declension in other dialects, see Appendix:Ancient Greek dialectal declension.

Derived terms
  • χῆρος (khêros)

Descendants
  • Greek: χήρα (chíra)
  • Pontic Greek: χ̌έρα (šéra), χ̌όρα (šóra)
  • → Laz: შირა (şira)

Further reading

Greek

Etymology

From Ancient Greek χήρα (khḗra), possibly from Proto-Indo-European *ǵʰeh₁ro- (“derelict”), from the root *ǵʰeh₁- (“to leave behind, abandon”). Cognate with Latin heres.[1][2]

Noun

χήρα • (chíra) f (plural χήρες, masculine χήρος)

  1. widow, relict

Declension
declension of χήρα
case     \     number singular plural
nominative χήρα • χήρες •
genitive χήρας • χηρών •
accusative χήρα • χήρες •
vocative χήρα • χήρες •

References
  1. Beekes, Robert S. P. (2010) Etymological Dictionary of Greek (Leiden Indo-European Etymological Dictionary Series; 10), with the assistance of Lucien van Beek, Leiden, Boston: Brill, →ISBN
  2. De Vaan, Michiel (2008) Etymological Dictionary of Latin and the other Italic Languages (Leiden Indo-European Etymological Dictionary Series; 7)‎, Leiden, Boston: Brill, →ISBN
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