κολοφών

Ancient Greek

FWOTD – 18 October 2014

Etymology

  • According to Pokorny cognate with κολώνη (kolṓnē) "hill", Latin collis "hill", the sense of "topping, finishing" derives figuratively from the one of "top".
  • According to Strabο (Geographica 14:1:28), from Κολοφών (Kolophṓn, Colophon) as coming from the belief that the cavalry of Colophon was so excellent, that it always decided the contest.

Pronunciation

 

Noun

κολοφών (kolophṓn) m (genitive κολοφῶνος); third declension

  1. a summit, top, finishing
  2. a type of playing ball
  3. (hapax legomenon, according to Hesychius) jackdaw, daw, grackle
  4. (hapax legomenon, according to Hesychius) a type of sea fish

Inflection

Synonyms

Descendants

  • French: colophon
  • Greek: κολοφώνας (kolofónas)

Further reading

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