ἡμέρα Ancient Greek · revision 3259

+ {{infobox|confidence=established|formation=derivation|attested=Homer, Iliad|origins=ine-pro *Heh₂mer}}

+

+ ==Pronunciation==

+ * IPA (5th-century BC Attic): /hɛː.mé.raː/^(Wiktionary)

+ * IPA (4th-century AD Koine): /iˈme.ra/^(Wiktionary)

+ * IPA (10th-century Byzantine): /iˈme.ra/^(Wiktionary)

+

+ ==Forms==

+ '''ἡμέρᾱ''' (hēmérā) ''f'' (genitive ἡμέρᾱς); first declension^(Wiktionary)

+

+ ==Etymology==

+ It is an extension of [[ἦμαρ|tr=êmar|t=day]], the older and in Homer the more frequent word.^(Beekes 2010)^(Wiktionary)^(LSJ 1940) The rough breathing of Attic and western Ionic was probably taken from [[ἑσπέρα|tr=hespérā|t=evening]]; early Attic inscriptions and most dialects have the plain ⟨ἀμέρα⟩.^(Beekes 2010)^(LSJ 1940)^(Wiktionary)

+

+ Ἦμαρ is from [[ine-pro|*Heh₂mer|t=day]], and its only cognate is [[xcl|աւր|tr=awr|t=day]].^(Beekes 2010)^(Wiktionary) Mycenaean has it in [[gmy|a-mo-ra-ma|t=day after day]].^(Beekes 2010)

+

+ ==Earliest recorded meaning==

+ In the ''Iliad'' “this day brings evil”, and the ''Odyssey'' pairs “nights and days”.^(LSJ 1940)

+

+ ==Semantic evolution==

+ It was the day as opposed to the night, and the full day of twenty-four hours; adverbial phrases such as ''ἅμα ἡμέρᾳ'' “at daybreak” are common in prose.^(CGL 2021)^(LSJ 1940) In tragedy it is also a period of one's life, “a day of misery”, “old age”, and the day of one's death.^(LSJ 1940)^(CGL 2021) Ammonius distinguishes it from [[ἠώς|tr=ēṓs]]: Hesiod makes Day a bodiless child of Night, Dawn a goddess.^(Ammonius)

+

+ The Septuagint uses it for feast days, lifetimes and set times, and the New Testament for the day of judgement, “the day of the Lord”.^(Lust 2003)^(BDAG 2000)^(CGL 2021) Days of the week were named after the planets, as ''ἡμέρα Σελήνης'' “Monday”.^(Wiktionary)

+

+ In medieval Greek the first vowel was lost by running together with the article, giving [[m|el|μέρα|tr=méra]], the everyday Modern Greek word beside the learned [[m|el|ημέρα|tr=iméra]].^(Triantafyllidis 1998)

+

+ ==Timeline==

+ * Homer – The ''Iliad'' and the ''Odyssey'' use it beside the older ἦμαρ.^(LSJ 1940)^(Beekes 2010)

+ * Before the 6th century BC – Hesiod's ''Theogony'' makes Day a daughter of Night.^(Ammonius)

+ * 5th century BC – Herodotus has ''ἅμ᾽ ἡμέρῃ'' “at daybreak”.^(LSJ 1940)

+ * 5th century BC – Sophocles and Euripides use it for a period of life.^(LSJ 1940)^(CGL 2021)

+ * 1st century AD – The New Testament speaks of the day of judgement.^(BDAG 2000)^(CGL 2021)

+

+ ==Meanings==

+ ===Noun===

+ # [[m|en|day]], as opposed to night.^(LSJ 1940)^(CGL 2021)

+ # A day of twenty-four hours.^(CGL 2021)^(BDAG 2000)

+ # A particular day, a set [[m|en|date]]; the day of one's death.^(CGL 2021)

+ # ''(poetic)'' A time or period of life.^(LSJ 1940)^(CGL 2021)

+ # ''(plural)'' One's days, [[m|en|lifetime]].^(CGL 2021)^(Lust 2003)

+ # ''(New Testament)'' The day of judgement.^(CGL 2021)^(BDAG 2000)

+ # A birthday.^(Hesychius)^(Wiktionary)

+

+ ==Word family==

+ * [[διημερεύω|tr=diēmereúō]]

+ * [[εὐημερέω|tr=euēmeréō]]

+ * [[εὐημέρημα|tr=euēmérēma]]

+ * [[εὐημερία|tr=euēmería]]

+ * [[εὐήμερος|tr=euḗmeros]]

+ * [[ἐφημέριος|tr=ephēmérios]]

+ * [[ἐφήμερος|tr=ephḗmeros]]

+ * [[ἡμερήσιος|tr=hēmerḗsios]]

+ * [[ἡμερινός|tr=hēmerinós]]

+ * [[ἡμεροδρόμος|tr=hēmerodrómos]]

+ * [[ἡμεροφύλαξ|tr=hēmerophúlax]]

+ * [[ἰσημερία|tr=isēmería]]

+ * [[ἰσημερινός|tr=isēmerinós]]

+ * [[καθημέριος|tr=kathēmérios]]

+

+ ==Related words==

+ * [[ἦμαρ|tr=êmar]]

+ * [[σήμερον|tr=sḗmeron]]

+

+ ==References==

+ {{reflist}}