στῆθος

See also: στήθος

Ancient Greek

Etymology

As this word is also Doric and Aeolic, the connection with ἵστημι (hístēmi, “to stand”) must be given up. The similarity to στήνιον (stḗnion), Old Armenian ստին (stin, “breast”) and Sanskrit स्तन (stana, “female breast”) is hardly coincidental. If cognate, the relation between this word and στήνιον (stḗnion) would be like that of Latin plēnus (“full”) to πλῆθος (plêthos, “multitude”).

Pronunciation

(5^th BCE Attic) IPA^(key): /stɛ̂ː.tʰos/
(1^st CE Egyptian) IPA^(key): /ˈste̝.tʰos/
(4^th CE Koine) IPA^(key): /ˈsti.θos/
(10^th CE Byzantine) IPA^(key): /ˈsti.θos/
(15^th CE Constantinopolitan) IPA^(key): /ˈsti.θos/

Noun

στῆθος • (stêthos) n (genitive στήθεος or στήθους); third declension

breast (of both sexes)
breast as the seat of emotions, feelings
ball of the foot or thumb
(oncology) swelling, tumour
breast-shaped hill or mound

Inflection

Third declension of τὸ στῆθος; τοῦ στήθους (Attic)

Case / #	Singular	Dual	Plural
Nominative	τὸ στῆθος tò stêthos	τὼ στήθει tṑ stḗthei	τᾰ̀ στήθη tà stḗthē
Genitive	τοῦ στήθους toû stḗthous	τοῖν στηθοῖν toîn stēthoîn	τῶν στηθῶν tôn stēthôn
Dative	τῷ στήθει tôi stḗthei	τοῖν στηθοῖν toîn stēthoîn	τοῖς στήθεσῐ / στήθεσῐν toîs stḗthesi(n)
Accusative	τὸ στῆθος tò stêthos	τὼ στήθει tṑ stḗthei	τᾰ̀ στήθη tà stḗthē
Vocative	στῆθος stêthos	στήθει stḗthei	στήθη stḗthē
Notes:	This table gives Attic inflectional endings. For declension in other dialects, see Appendix:Ancient Greek dialectal declension.

Third declension of στῆθος; στήθεος (Epic)

Case / #	Singular	Dual	Plural
Nominative	στῆθος stêthos	στήθει / στήθεε stḗthei / stḗthee	στήθεᾰ stḗthea
Genitive	στήθεος / στήθευς stḗtheos / stḗtheus	στηθέοιν stēthéoin	στηθέων / στήθεσφι / στήθεσφιν stēthéōn / stḗthesphi(n)
Dative	στήθει / στήθεῐ̈ stḗthei / stḗtheï	στηθέοιν stēthéoin	στήθεσῐ / στήθεσῐν stḗthesi(n)
Accusative	στῆθος stêthos	στήθει / στήθεε stḗthei / stḗthee	στήθεᾰ stḗthea
Vocative	στῆθος stêthos	στήθει / στήθεε stḗthei / stḗthee	στήθεᾰ stḗthea
Notes:	Dialects other than Attic are not well attested. Some forms may be based on conjecture. Use with caution.

Derived terms

μεγαλόστηθος (megalóstēthos)
μικρόστηθος (mikróstēthos)
περιστήθιον (peristḗthion)
προστηθίς (prostēthís)
στηθαῖον (stēthaîon)
στηθάριον (stēthárion)
στήθειος (stḗtheios)
στηθιαῖος (stēthiaîos)
στηθίας (stēthías)
στηθίδιον (stēthídion)
στηθικός (stēthikós)
στηθίν (stēthín)
στηθίον (stēthíon)
στηθιστήρ (stēthistḗr)
στηθόδεσμος (stēthódesmos)
στηθοειδής (stēthoeidḗs)
στηθύνιον (stēthúnion)

Descendants

→ English: stetho-
Greek: στήθος (stíthos)

“στῆθος”, in Liddell & Scott (1940) A Greek–English Lexicon, Oxford: Clarendon Press
“στῆθος”, in Liddell & Scott (1889) An Intermediate Greek–English Lexicon, New York: Harper & Brothers
“στῆθος”, in Autenrieth, Georg (1891) A Homeric Dictionary for Schools and Colleges, New York: Harper and Brothers
στῆθος in Bailly, Anatole (1935) Le Grand Bailly: Dictionnaire grec-français, Paris: Hachette
στῆθος in Cunliffe, Richard J. (1924) A Lexicon of the Homeric Dialect: Expanded Edition, Norman: University of Oklahoma Press, published 1963
G4738 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.
- bosom idem, page 90.
- breast idem, page 96.
- chest idem, page 129.
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