# Ἀφροδίτη
## Ancient Greek
### Alternative forms

* [Cypriot needed] (a-po-ro-ti-si-jo) — Cypriot (ICS2 327)
* Ἀφορδίτα (Aphordíta) — Crete
* Ἀφροδίτα (Aphrodíta) — Aeolic, Doric
* Ἀφρόδιτα (Aphródita) — Lesbian Aeolic

### Etymology

The theonym is found in Homer and Hesiod (c. 8th century B.C.). Traditionally it has been viewed as a compound, ἀφρός (aphrós, “sea foam, froth”) +‎ -δίτη (-dítē), connecting the first part with the legend of the goddess' birth. This has not been accepted by modern scholars.
There is no etymology generally accepted in scholarship. Some such as Beekes propose that the name in its entirety is a loan from a non-Greek language, of probable "oriental origin", possibly Cypriot Phoenician (such as in the Idalion bilingual). A connection to Akkadian 𒀭𒈹 ($^d$Ištar) has been further proposed.
An older, now rejected proposal of a Greek etymology connects -δίτη (-dítē) with the verb δέατο (déato, “to shine, to appear, seem”) (Homeric δῆλος (dêlos, “visible, conspicuous, clear”)) and interprets the name as originating from an epithet of the dawn goddess Ἠώς (Ēṓs).
Associated by the Romans with Venus, originally a goddess of less meaning and prominence.
More on Wikipedia.

### Pronunciation

* IPA: /a.pʰro.dǐː.tɛː/ → /a.ɸroˈði.ti/ → /a.froˈði.ti/
* (5th BCE Attic) IPA: /a.pʰro.dǐː.tɛː/
* (1st CE Egyptian) IPA: /a.pʰroˈdi.te̝/
* (4th CE Koine) IPA: /a.ɸroˈði.ti/
* (10th CE Byzantine) IPA: /a.froˈði.ti/
* (15th CE Constantinopolitan) IPA: /a.froˈði.ti/

### Proper noun

Ᾰ̓φροδῑ́τη • (Ăphrodī́tē) f (genitive Ᾰ̓φροδῑ́της); first declension
* (Greek mythology) Aphrodite
* the planet Venus

#### Derived terms

* ἀφροδίσιος (aphrodísios)
** ἀφροδίσια (aphrodísia)
** ἀφροδισιάς (aphrodisiás)
** ἀφροδισιακός (aphrodisiakós)
** ἀφροδισιάζω (aphrodisiázō)
*** ἀφροδισιασμός (aphrodisiasmós)
*** ἀφροδισιαστής (aphrodisiastḗs)
*** ἀφροδισιαστικός (aphrodisiastikós)

#### Descendants

* Coptic: ⲁⲫⲣⲟⲇⲓⲧⲏ (aphroditē)
* Greek: Αφροδίτη (Afrodíti)
* →? Albanian: Afërditë
* → Latin: Aphrodite
* →? Messapic: 𐌀𐌐𐌓𐌏𐌃𐌉𐌕𐌀 (Aprodita)
* → Russian: Афроди́та (Afrodíta)
* → Translingual: Aphrodita

### References

* “Ἀφροδίτη”, in Liddell & Scott (1940) A Greek–English Lexicon, Oxford: Clarendon Press
* “Ἀφροδίτη”, in Liddell & Scott (1889) An Intermediate Greek–English Lexicon, New York: Harper & Brothers
* “Ἀφροδίτη”, in Autenrieth, Georg (1891) A Homeric Dictionary for Schools and Colleges, New York: Harper and Brothers
* Ἀφροδίτη in Cunliffe, Richard J. (1924) A Lexicon of the Homeric Dialect: Expanded Edition, Norman: University of Oklahoma Press, published 1963
* Ἀφροδίτη in the Diccionario Griego–Español en línea (2006–2025)
* Woodhouse, S. C. (1910) English–Greek Dictionary: A Vocabulary of the Attic Language‎, London: Routledge & Kegan Paul Limited, page 1,001
* ↑ Paul Kretschmer, “Zum pamphylischen Dialekt”, Zeitschrift für vergleichende Sprachforschung auf dem Gebiet der Indogermanischen Sprachen 33 (1895): 267.
* ↑ Robert Beekes, Etymological Dictionary of Greek, vol. 1 (Leiden-Boston: Brill, 2010), 179.
* ↑ Martin Litchfield West, “The Name of Aphrodite”, Glotta 76 (2000): 134-8.
* ↑ Ernst Maaß, “Aphrodite und die hl. Pelagia”, Neue Jahrbücher für das klassische Altertum 27 (1911): 457-468.
* ↑ Vittore Pisani, “Akmon e Dieus”, Archivio glottologico italiano 24 (1930): 65-73.

### Further reading

* http://opsopaus.com/OM/BA/Plethon/Aphrodite.html