καρκίνος

See also: Καρκίνος and Κάρκινος

Ancient Greek

Etymology

Uncertain. Could be from a Proto-Indo-European *karkros, with cognates including Latin cancer, and possibly Sanskrit कर्कट (karkaṭa), although relationship with the latter is less certain. There are elements which point to a non-Indo-European origin for the Greek and its comparanda, perhaps Pre-Greek.

Pronunciation

 

• IPA^(key): /kar.kí.nos/ → /karˈci.nos/ → /karˈci.nos/

• (5^th BCE Attic) IPA^(key): /kar.kí.nos/
• (1^st CE Egyptian) IPA^(key): /karˈki.nos/
• (4^th CE Koine) IPA^(key): /karˈci.nos/
• (10^th CE Medieval) IPA^(key): /karˈci.nos/
• (15^th CE Constantinopolitan) IPA^(key): /karˈci.nos/

Noun

καρκῐ́νος • (karkĭ́nos) m (genitive καρκῐ́νου); second declension

1. crab
2. Cancer, the zodiac sign
3. sore, ulcer, cancer
4. items which resemble a crab's pincers
   1. pair of pincers, a type of torture instrument
   2. temple bones
   3. type of shoe
   4. type of bandage
   5. pair of compasses
   6. distillery

Inflection

Second declension of ὁ καρκῐ́νος; τοῦ καρκῐ́νου (Attic)

	singular	dual	plural
nominative	ὁ καρκῐ́νοςho karkĭ́nos	τὼ καρκῐ́νωtṑ karkĭ́nō	οἱ καρκῐ́νᾰhoi karkĭ́nă
genitive	τοῦ καρκῐ́νουtoû karkĭ́nou	τοῖν καρκῐ́νοινtoîn karkĭ́noin	τῶν καρκῐ́νωνtôn karkĭ́nōn
dative	τῷ καρκῐ́νῳtōî karkĭ́nōi	τοῖν καρκῐ́νοινtoîn karkĭ́noin	τοῖς καρκῐ́νοιςtoîs karkĭ́nois
accusative	τὸν καρκῐ́νονtòn karkĭ́non	τὼ καρκῐ́νωtṑ karkĭ́nō	τοὺς καρκῐ́νᾰtoùs karkĭ́nă
vocative	καρκῐ́νεkarkĭ́ne	καρκῐ́νωkarkĭ́nō	καρκῐ́νᾰkarkĭ́nă

• This table gives Attic inflectional endings. For declension in other dialects, see Appendix:Ancient Greek dialectal declension.
• Note the irregular plurals

Synonyms

• (cancer): καρκῐ́νωμᾰ (karkĭ́nōmă)

Derived terms

• καρκινόω (karkinóō)
• καρκίνωμα (karkínōma)

Descendants

• Old Armenian: կարակին (karakin), կարկին (karkin)
  • Armenian: կարկին (karkin)
• → English: carcino-
• Translingual: → Carcinus

Further reading

• “καρκίνος”, in Liddell & Scott (1940), A Greek–English Lexicon, Oxford: Clarendon Press
• “καρκίνος”, in Liddell & Scott (1889), An Intermediate Greek–English Lexicon, New York: Harper & Brothers
• “καρκίνος” in Bailly, Anatole (1935), Le Grand Bailly: Dictionnaire grec-français, Paris: Hachette
• καρκίνος in Trapp, Erich, et al. (1994–2007), Lexikon zur byzantinischen Gräzität besonders des 9.-12. Jahrhunderts [the Lexicon of Byzantine Hellenism, Particularly the 9th–12th Centuries], Verlag der Österreichischen Akademie der Wissenschaften
• Woodhouse, S. C. (1910), English–Greek Dictionary: A Vocabulary of the Attic Language‎^[1], London: Routledge & Kegan Paul Limited.
  • crab idem, page 181.
• καρκίνος, in ΛΟΓΕΙΟΝ [Logeion] Dictionaries for Ancient Greek and Latin (in English, French, Spanish, German, Dutch and Chinese), University of Chicago, since 2011

Greek

Etymology

Learned borrowing from Ancient Greek καρκίνος (karkínos, “crab”)

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /karˈci.nos/
• Hyphenation: καρ‧κί‧νος

Noun

καρκίνος • (karkínos) m (plural καρκίνοι)

1. (medicine) cancer (disease of uncontrolled cellular proliferation)
2. crab

   Synonyms: κάβουρας m (kávouras), καβούρι n (kavoúri)

3. (astronomy, astrology) Cancer

Declension

Declension of καρκίνος

	singular	plural
nominative	καρκίνος (karkínos)	καρκίνοι (karkínoi)
genitive	καρκίνου (karkínou)	καρκίνων (karkínon)
accusative	καρκίνο (karkíno)	καρκίνους (karkínous)
vocative	καρκίνε (karkíne)	καρκίνοι (karkínoi)

Related terms

• αντικαρκινικός (antikarkinikós, “anticancer”, adjective)
• καρκινική γραφή f (karkinikí grafí, “palindrome”)
• καρκινική επιγραφή f (karkinikí epigrafí, “palindrome”)
• καρκινικός (karkinikós, “cancer”, adjective)
• καρκινικός στίχος m (karkinikós stíchos, “palindrome”)
• καρκινοβασία (karkinovasía, “backward movement”)
• καρκινοβατώ (karkinovató, “to move crabwise”)
• καρκινογένεση f (karkinogénesi, “carcinogenesis”)
• καρκινογόνος (karkinogónos, “carcinogenic”, adjective)
• καρκινοειδή f (karkinoeidí, “crustacean”)
• καρκινοειδής (karkinoeidís, “crustacean”, adjective)
• καρκινολογία f (karkinología, “cancer research”)
• καρκινολόγος m (karkinológos, “cancer specialist”)
• καρκινοπαθής (karkinopathís, “cancer patient”, adjective)
• καρκινοφοβία f (karkinofovía, “cancerphobia”)
• καρκινώδης (karkinódis, “cancerous”, adjective)
• καρκίνωμα n (karkínoma, “carcinoma, cancerous growth”)
• καρκινωματώδης (karkinomatódis, “cancerous”, adjective)
• προκαρκινικός (prokarkinikós, “precancerous”, adjective)

Further reading

• καρκίνος, in Λεξικό της κοινής νεοελληνικής [Dictionary of Standard Modern Greek], Triantafyllidis Foundation, 1998 at the Centre for the Greek language
• καρκίνος on the Greek Wikipedia.Wikipedia ^el