τέφρα

Ancient Greek

Alternative forms

• τέφρη (téphrē) (Ionic, Epic)

Etymology

From Proto-Indo-European *dʰegʷʰ- (“to burn”). The unaspirated first consonant is due to Grassmann's law.

Cognates include Latin foveō, Albanian djeg, Old Church Slavonic жещи (žešti), Lithuanian degti, Avestan 𐬛𐬀𐬲𐬀𐬌𐬙𐬌 (dažaⁱti), and Sanskrit दहति (dahati), whence दह्र (dahra, “burning wood”)

Pronunciation

 

• IPA^(key): /té.pʰraː/ → /ˈte.ɸra/ → /ˈte.fra/

• (5^th BCE Attic) IPA^(key): /té.pʰraː/
• (1^st CE Egyptian) IPA^(key): /ˈte.pʰra/
• (4^th CE Koine) IPA^(key): /ˈte.ɸra/
• (10^th CE Byzantine) IPA^(key): /ˈte.fra/
• (15^th CE Constantinopolitan) IPA^(key): /ˈte.fra/

Noun

τέφρᾱ • (téphrā) f (genitive τέφρᾱς); first declension

1. ashes, as of the funeral pyre.

Inflection

First declension of ἡ τέφρᾱ; τῆς τέφρᾱς (Attic)

Case / #	Singular	Dual	Plural
Nominative	ἡ τέφρᾱ hē téphrā	τὼ τέφρᾱ tṑ téphrā	αἱ τέφραι hai téphrai
Genitive	τῆς τέφρᾱς tês téphrās	τοῖν τέφραιν toîn téphrain	τῶν τεφρῶν tôn tephrôn
Dative	τῇ τέφρᾳ têi téphrāi	τοῖν τέφραιν toîn téphrain	ταῖς τέφραις taîs téphrais
Accusative	τὴν τέφρᾱν tḕn téphrān	τὼ τέφρᾱ tṑ téphrā	τᾱ̀ς τέφρᾱς tā̀s téphrās
Vocative	τέφρᾱ téphrā	τέφρᾱ téphrā	τέφραι téphrai
Notes:	This table gives Attic inflectional endings. For declension in other dialects, see Appendix:Ancient Greek dialectal declension.

Derived terms

• τέφρινος (téphrinos)

Descendants

• → English: tephra
• Greek: τέφρα (téfra)

Further reading

• “τέφρα”, in Liddell & Scott (1940) A Greek–English Lexicon, Oxford: Clarendon Press
• “τέφρα”, in Liddell & Scott (1889) An Intermediate Greek–English Lexicon, New York: Harper & Brothers
• τέφρα in Bailly, 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.
  • ashes idem, page 43.
  • dust idem, page 256.
  • embers idem, page 267.

Greek

Etymology

Inherited from Ancient Greek τέφρα (téphra).

Noun

τέφρα • (téfra) f (plural τέφρες)

1. ash, cinder, cinders

Declension

Declension of τέφρα

	singular	plural
nominative	τέφρα (téfra)	τέφρες (téfres)
genitive	τέφρας (téfras)	τεφρών (tefrón)
accusative	τέφρα (téfra)	τέφρες (téfres)
vocative	τέφρα (téfra)	τέφρες (téfres)

Related terms

• τεφροδοχείο n (tefrodocheío, “ash tray, urn”)
• τεφροδόχος f (tefrodóchos, “burial urn”)
• τεφροδόχη f (tefrodóchi, “ash pan, urn”)