ἄγκυρα

See also: άγκυρα, Άγκυρα, and Ἄγκυρα

Ancient Greek

Alternative forms

ἄγκυρρα (ánkurrha) — Lesbian

Etymology

Traditionally derived from Proto-Indo-European *h₂enk-ur-ya-, from *h₂enk- (“corner, hirn”) (whence also ἄγκος (ánkos)). This is supported by the OED;^[1] however, Beekes is skeptical, due to the suffix -ῡρα (-ūra) being associated with presumably-substrate words including γέφῡρᾰ (géphūră, “dam, dike”) and γόργῡρα (górgūra, “underground sewer”), and takes the word as Pre-Greek.^[2]

The Greek word is the origin of or from the same source as Latin ancora.

Pronunciation

(5^th BCE Attic) IPA^(key): /áŋ.kyː.ra/
(1^st CE Egyptian) IPA^(key): /ˈaŋ.ky.ra/
(4^th CE Koine) IPA^(key): /ˈaɲ.ɟy.ra/
(10^th CE Byzantine) IPA^(key): /ˈaɲ.ɟy.ra/
(15^th CE Constantinopolitan) IPA^(key): /ˈaɲ.ɟi.ra/

Noun

ᾰ̓́γκῡρᾰ • (ắnkūră) f (genitive ᾰ̓γκῡ́ρᾱς); first declension

anchor
hook

Inflection

First declension of ἡ ᾰ̓́γκῡρᾰ; τῆς ᾰ̓γκῡ́ρᾱς (Attic)

Case / #	Singular	Dual	Plural
Nominative	ἡ ᾰ̓́γκῡρᾰ hē ắnkūră	τὼ ᾰ̓γκῡ́ρᾱ tṑ ănkū́rā	αἱ ᾰ̓́γκῡραι hai ắnkūrai
Genitive	τῆς ᾰ̓γκῡ́ρᾱς tês ănkū́rās	τοῖν ᾰ̓γκῡ́ραιν toîn ănkū́rain	τῶν ᾰ̓γκῡρῶν tôn ănkūrôn
Dative	τῇ ᾰ̓γκῡ́ρᾳ têi ănkū́rāi	τοῖν ᾰ̓γκῡ́ραιν toîn ănkū́rain	ταῖς ᾰ̓γκῡ́ραις taîs ănkū́rais
Accusative	τὴν ᾰ̓́γκῡρᾰν tḕn ắnkūrăn	τὼ ᾰ̓γκῡ́ρᾱ tṑ ănkū́rā	τᾱ̀ς ᾰ̓γκῡ́ρᾱς tā̀s ănkū́rās
Vocative	ᾰ̓́γκῡρᾰ ắnkūră	ᾰ̓γκῡ́ρᾱ ănkū́rā	ᾰ̓́γκῡραι ắnkūrai
Notes:	This table gives Attic inflectional endings. For declension in other dialects, see Appendix:Ancient Greek dialectal declension.

Descendants

Greek: άγκυρα (ágkyra)
→ Latin: ancora (or a cognate) (see there for further descendants)
→ Old Tamil: 𑀦𑀗𑁰𑀓𑀽𑀭𑀫𑁰 (naṅkūram)
- Malayalam: നങ്കൂരം (naṅkūraṁ), അങ്കുരം (aṅkuraṁ)
- Tamil: நங்கூரம் (naṅkūram)
→ Persian: لنگر (langar)
- → Arabic: أَنْجَر (ʔanjar)
- → Gujarati: લંગર (laṅgar)
- → Ottoman Turkish: لنگر (lenger)
  - Turkish: lenger
  - → Armenian: լէնկէռ (lēnkēṙ)
- → Uyghur: لەڭگەر (lengger)
  - → Mandarin: 蘭干 (Lángān)

References

^ James A. H. Murray et al., editors (1884–1928), “Ἄγκυρα”, in A New English Dictionary on Historical Principles (Oxford English Dictionary), London: Clarendon Press, →OCLC.
^ Beekes, Robert S. P. (2010) “ἄγκῡρα”, in Etymological Dictionary of Greek (Leiden Indo-European Etymological Dictionary Series; 10), with the assistance of Lucien van Beek, Leiden, Boston: Brill, →ISBN, page 13

“ἄγκυρα”, in Liddell & Scott (1940) A Greek–English Lexicon, Oxford: Clarendon Press
“ἄγκυρα”, in Liddell & Scott (1889) An Intermediate Greek–English Lexicon, New York: Harper & Brothers
ἄγκυρα in Bailly, Anatole (1935) Le Grand Bailly: Dictionnaire grec-français, Paris: Hachette
Bauer, Walter et al. (2001) A Greek–English Lexicon of the New Testament and Other Early Christian Literature, Third edition, Chicago: University of Chicago Press
ἄγκυρα in the Diccionario Griego–Español en línea (2006–2025)
“ἄγκυρα”, in Slater, William J. (1969) Lexicon to Pindar, Berlin: Walter de Gruyter
G45 in Strong, James (1979) Strong’s Exhaustive Concordance to the Bible
Woodhouse, S. C. (1910) English–Greek Dictionary: A Vocabulary of the Attic Language‎^[1], London: Routledge & Kegan Paul Limited.
- anchor idem, page 29.

[1] James A. H. Murray et al., editors (1884–1928), “Ἄγκυρα”, in A New English Dictionary on Historical Principles (Oxford English Dictionary), London: Clarendon Press, →OCLC.

[2] Beekes, Robert S. P. (2010) “ἄγκῡρα”, in Etymological Dictionary of Greek (Leiden Indo-European Etymological Dictionary Series; 10), with the assistance of Lucien van Beek, Leiden, Boston: Brill, →ISBN, page 13

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