Ancient Greek

Adjective

ὠκύς • ‎(ōkús) m ‎(feminine ὠκεῖα, neuter ὠκύ); first/third declension

1. (chiefly poetic) fast, swift, quick
2. (with accusative of respect, in the epithet πόδας ὠκύς, referring to Achilles) swift of foot, swift-footed

   800 BCE – 600 BCE, Homer, Iliad 1.84

   Τὸν δ΄ ἀπαμειβόμενος προσέφη πόδας ὠκὺς Ἀχιλλεύς·

   Answering him, swift-footed Achilles said to [him]:

Inflection

The feminine singular ὠκέᾰ ‎(ōkéa) is used by Homer for metrical reasons, especially in the phrase (πόδας) ὠκέᾰ Ἶρῐς (short–short—long–short–short—long–long), used at the end of a line, where ὠκεῖᾰ ‎(ōkeîa) would yield an unmetrical short–short—long–long–short–long–long.

Synonyms

• ταχύς ‎(takhús)

Related terms

• ὀξύς ‎(oxús)
• ἀκή ‎(akḗ)
• ἀκμή ‎(akmḗ)

References

• ὠκύς in Liddell & Scott (1940) A Greek–English Lexicon, Oxford: Clarendon Press
• ὠκύς in Liddell & Scott (1889) An Intermediate Greek–English Lexicon, New York: Harper & Brothers
• ὠκύς in Autenrieth, Georg (1891) A Homeric Dictionary for Schools and Colleges, New York: Harper and Brothers
• «ὠκύς» in Bailly, Anatole (1935) Le Grand Bailly: Dictionnaire grec-français, Paris: Hachette
• «ὠκύς» in Cunliffe, Richard J. (1924) A Lexicon of the Homeric Dialect: Expanded Edition, Norman: University of Oklahoma Press, published 1963
• ὠκύς in Slater, William J. (1969) Lexicon to Pindar, Berlin: Walter de Gruyter
• Woodhouse, S. C. (1910) English-Greek Dictionary: A Vocabulary of the Attic Language, London: Routledge & Kegan Paul Limited.
  • fast idem, page 308.
  • fleet idem, page 327.
  • hasty idem, page 387.
  • nimble idem, page 558.
  • quick idem, page 665.
  • swift idem, page 848.