ὄστρακον

Ancient Greek

Etymology

Traditionally held to be related to ὀστέον (ostéon, “bone”) and ὄστρεον (óstreon, “oyster”). Beekes considers it more likely to be Pre-Greek, which does not exclude a relation to ὄστρεον (óstreon).

Pronunciation

 

• IPA^(key): /ós.tra.kon/ → /ˈos.tra.kon/ → /ˈos.tra.kon/

• (5^th BCE Attic) IPA^(key): /ós.tra.kon/
• (1^st CE Egyptian) IPA^(key): /ˈos.tra.kon/
• (4^th CE Koine) IPA^(key): /ˈos.tra.kon/
• (10^th CE Byzantine) IPA^(key): /ˈos.tra.kon/
• (15^th CE Constantinopolitan) IPA^(key): /ˈos.tra.kon/

Noun

ὄστρᾰκον • (óstrăkon) n (genitive ὀστρᾰ́κου); second declension

1. earthen vessel
   1. fragment of such a vessel, potsherd
   2. earthen castanet
2. the hard shell of animals such as mollusks and turtles
   1. mother of pearl
   2. eggshell

Inflection

Second declension of τὸ ὄστρᾰκον; τοῦ ὀστρᾰ́κου (Attic)

Case / #	Singular	Dual	Plural
Nominative	τὸ ὄστρᾰκον tò óstrăkon	τὼ ὀστρᾰ́κω tṑ ostrắkō	τᾰ̀ ὄστρᾰκᾰ tằ óstrăkă
Genitive	τοῦ ὀστρᾰ́κου toû ostrắkou	τοῖν ὀστρᾰ́κοιν toîn ostrắkoin	τῶν ὀστρᾰ́κων tôn ostrắkōn
Dative	τῷ ὀστρᾰ́κῳ tōî ostrắkōi	τοῖν ὀστρᾰ́κοιν toîn ostrắkoin	τοῖς ὀστρᾰ́κοις toîs ostrắkois
Accusative	τὸ ὄστρᾰκον tò óstrăkon	τὼ ὀστρᾰ́κω tṑ ostrắkō	τᾰ̀ ὄστρᾰκᾰ tằ óstrăkă
Vocative	ὄστρᾰκον óstrăkon	ὀστρᾰ́κω ostrắkō	ὄστρᾰκᾰ óstrăkă
Notes:	This table gives Attic inflectional endings. For declension in other dialects, see Appendix:Ancient Greek dialectal declension.

Derived terms

• μᾰλᾰκόστρᾰκος (mălăkóstrăkos)
• ὀστρᾰκῐ́ζω (ostrăkĭ́zō)
• ὀστρᾰ́κῐνος (ostrắkĭnos)
• ὀστρᾰκῐ́ς (ostrăkĭ́s)
• ὀστρᾰκόδερμος (ostrăkódermos)
• ὀστρᾰκώδης (ostrăkṓdēs)

Descendants

• Greek: όστρακο (óstrako)
• → Latin: astracum
  • French: âtre
  • Portuguese: óstraco
  • Galician: ástrago
  • Italian: lastrico
  • Neapolitan: asteco
  • → Old High German: esterih
    • Middle High German: esterich
      • German: Estrich
      • → Polish: strych

Further reading

• “ὄστρακον”, in Liddell & Scott (1940), A Greek–English Lexicon, Oxford: Clarendon Press
• “ὄστρακον”, in Liddell & Scott (1889), An Intermediate Greek–English Lexicon, New York: Harper & Brothers
• ὄστρακον 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, London: Routledge & Kegan Paul Limited.
  • potsherd idem, page 629.
  • shell idem, page 764.
  • sherd idem, page 765.
• 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