# αὐδή
## Ancient Greek
### Alternative forms

* αὐδά (audá) — Doric
* αὔδα (aúda) — Aeolic

### Etymology

Cognate to Sanskrit वदति (vádati, “to say, speak”). Alternately, related to Ancient Greek ἀείδω (aeídō, “to sing”).

### Pronunciation

* IPA: /au̯.dɛ̌ː/ → /aβˈði/ → /avˈði/
* (5th BCE Attic) IPA: /au̯.dɛ̌ː/
* (1st CE Egyptian) IPA: /awˈde̝/
* (4th CE Koine) IPA: /aβˈði/
* (10th CE Byzantine) IPA: /avˈði/
* (15th CE Constantinopolitan) IPA: /avˈði/

### Noun

αὐδή • (audḗ) f (genitive αὐδῆς); first declension
* human voice; speech
** 800 BCE – 600 BCE, Homer, Iliad 1.247–249:τοῖσι δὲ Νέστωρ / ἡδυεπὴς ἀνόρουσε λιγὺς Πυλίων ἀγορητής, τοῦ καὶ ἀπὸ γλώσσης μέλιτος γλυκίων ῥέεν αὐδή:toîsi dè Néstōr / hēduepḕs anórouse ligùs Pulíōn agorētḗs, toû kaì apò glṓssēs mélitos glukíōn rhéen audḗ:Then among them Nestor, / sweet of speech, arose, the clear-voiced orator of the Pylians, even he from whose tongue flowed speech sweeter than honey.
* sound
** 800 BCE – 600 BCE, Homer, Odyssey 21.410–411:δεξιτερῇ ἄρα χειρὶ λαβὼν πειρήσατο νευρῆς: ἡ δ’ ὑπὸ καλὸν ἄεισε, χελιδόνι εἰκέλη αὐδήν.dexiterêi ára kheirì labṑn peirḗsato neurês: hē d’ hupò kalòn áeise, khelidóni eikélē audḗn.Then, having taken it in his right hand, he made trial of the bowstring, and under his touch it sang sweetly, like the twittering of a swallow.
** c. 440 BCE, Euripides, Rhesus 986–989:Χωρεῖτε, συμμάχους δ’ ὁπλίζεσθαι τάχος ἄνωχθε πληροῦν τ’ αὐχένας ξυνωρίδων. Πανοὺς δ’ ἔχοντας χρὴ μένειν Τυρσηνικῆς σάλπιγγος αὐδήν·Khōreîte, summákhous d’ hoplízesthai tákhos ánōkhthe plēroûn t’ aukhénas xunōrídōn. Panoùs d’ ékhontas khrḕ ménein Tursēnikês sálpingos audḗn;Go, order our allies to arm themselves at once and to fill the necks with yokes; torch-carrying you must await the Etrurian trumpet's blast.
* report; account
** 406 BCE, Sophocles, Oedipus at Colonus 239–240:ἔργων / ἀκόντων ἀΐοντες αὐδάνérgōn / akóntōn aḯontes audánof the deeds, / done involuntary, having heard a rumor
* oracle
** 413 BCE, Euripides, Iphigenia in Tauris 976–968:ἐντεῦθεν αὐδὴν τρίποδος ἐκ χρυσοῦ λακὼν Φοῖβός μ’ ἔπεμψε δεῦρο, διοπετὲς λαβεῖν ἄγαλμ’ Ἀθηνῶν τ’ ἐγκαθιδρῦσαι χθονί.enteûthen audḕn trípodos ek khrusoû lakṑn Phoîbós m’ épempse deûro, diopetès labeîn ágalm’ Athēnôn t’ enkathidrûsai khthoní.And then, crying out an oracle from the golden tripod, Phoebus sent me here, to get the image Zeus hurled down, and set it up in Athena's land.
* song; ode
** 522 BCE – 443 BCE, Pindar, Nemean Ode 9.3–5:ἀλλ’ ἐπέων γλυκὺν ὕμνον πράσσετε. τὸ κρατήσιππον γὰρ ἐς ἃρμ’ ἀναβαίνων / ματέρι καὶ διδύμοις παίδεσσιν αὐδὰν μανύει Πυθῶνος αἰπεινᾶς ὁμοκλάροις ἐπόπταις.all’ epéōn glukùn húmnon prássete. tò kratḗsippon gàr es hàrm’ anabaínōn / matéri kaì didúmois paídessin audàn manúei Puthônos aipeinâs homoklárois epóptais.Do come, to claim a sweet song: for he, stepping into the chariot of his victory, / gives the signal to sing to the mother and her twin children who over high Pytho in fellowship keep watch.

#### Derived terms

* ἄναυδος (ánaudos)
* αὐδήεις (audḗeis)

### References

* “αὐδή”, in Liddell & Scott (1940) A Greek–English Lexicon, Oxford: Clarendon Press
* “αὐδή”, in Liddell & Scott (1889) An Intermediate Greek–English Lexicon, New York: Harper & Brothers
* αὐδή in Bailly, Anatole (1935) Le Grand Bailly: Dictionnaire grec-français, Paris: Hachette