# Αἴγυπτος
## Ancient Greek
### Etymology

From Egyptian ḥwt-kꜣ-ptḥ (literally “The temple of the ka of Ptah”), referring to Ptah’s temple in the important city of Memphis.
See also the Mycenaean Greek demonym 𐁁𐀓𐀠𐀴𐀍 (a3-ku-pi-ti-jo, “Egyptian”) (Ancient Greek Αἰγύπτιος (Aigúptios)).

### Pronunciation

* IPA: /ǎi̯.ɡyp.tos/ → /ˈɛ.ʝyp.tos/ → /ˈe.ʝip.tos/
* (5th BCE Attic) IPA: /ǎi̯.ɡyp.tos/
* (1st CE Egyptian) IPA: /ˈɛ.ɡyp.tos/
* (4th CE Koine) IPA: /ˈɛ.ʝyp.tos/
* (10th CE Byzantine) IPA: /ˈe.ʝyp.tos/
* (15th CE Constantinopolitan) IPA: /ˈe.ʝip.tos/

### Proper noun

Αἴγυπτος • (Aíguptos) m or f (genitive Αἰγύπτου); second declension
* (masculine) the Aegyptus river, i.e. the Nile River
** 800 BCE – 600 BCE, Homer, Odyssey 4.477–478:Αἰγύπτοιο, διιπετέος ποταμοῖο, / (...) ὕδωρAigúptoio, diipetéos potamoîo, / (...) húdōrto the water of the Nile, the river fallen from Zeus
* (masculine) King Aegyptus
** 470 BCE, Aeschylus, The Suppliants 9–10:γάμον Αἰγύπτου παίδων ἀσεβῆ / 'ξονοταζόμεναι.gámon Aigúptou paídōn asebê / ’xonotazómenai.abhorring marriage to the sons of Aegyptus as profane
* (feminine) Egypt (an ancient country and region of North Africa and Western Asia)
** 800 BCE – 600 BCE, Homer, Odyssey 17.425–426:ὅς μ' ἅμα ληϊστῆρσι πολυπλάγκτοισιν ἀνῆκεν / Αἴγυπτόνδ' ἰέναιhós m’ háma lēïstêrsi poluplánktoisin anêken / Aíguptónd’ iénaiwho sent me alongside ever-wandering pirates / to go to Egypt
** 800 BCE – 600 BCE, Homer, Odyssey 17.448:μὴ τάχα πικρὴν Αἴγυπτον καὶ Κύπρον ἵκηαι·mḕ tákha pikrḕn Aígupton kaì Kúpron híkēai;lest swiftly you come to bitter Egypt and Cyprus;

#### Derived terms

* Αἰγυπτιάζω (Aiguptiázō)
* Αἰγύπτιος (Aigúptios)
* Αἰγυπτιόω (Aiguptióō)
* Αἰγυπτιστί (Aiguptistí)
* Αἰγυπτιώδης (Aiguptiṓdēs)
* Αἰγυπτογενής (Aiguptogenḗs)

#### Descendants

* → Aghwan: 𐔴𐔲𐔼𐕢𐕜𐕒𐕚 (egipṭos)
* → Albanian: Egjipti
* → Old Armenian: Եգիպտոս (Egiptos)
** Armenian: Եգիպտոս (Egiptos)
* → Amharic: ግብፅ (gəbṣ́)
* → Bulgarian: Египет (Egipet)
* → Coptic: ⲅⲩⲡⲧⲓⲟⲥ (guptios) (see there for further descendants)
* → Old Georgian: ეგჳპტჱ (egwiṗṭē)
** Georgian: ეგვიპტე (egviṗṭe)
* Greek: Αίγυπτος (Aígyptos)
** → Thai: ไอยคุปต์ (ai-yá-kúp)
* → Hawaiian: ʻAikupika, Aigupita, ʻAikupita
* → Latin: Aegyptus (see there for further descendants)
* → Macedonian: Египет (Egipet)
* → Middle Persian: 𐭯𐭲𐭮‎𐭠𐭢 (agīptôs)
* → Old Church Slavonic:
** Old Cyrillic script: Єгѷптъ (Egüptŭ)
* → Rarotongan: ‘Aiviti

### References

* “Αἴγυπτος”, in Liddell & Scott (1940) A Greek–English Lexicon, Oxford: Clarendon Press
* “Αἴγυπτος”, in Liddell & Scott (1889) An Intermediate Greek–English Lexicon, New York: Harper & Brothers
* “Αἴγυπτος”, in Autenrieth, Georg (1891) A Homeric Dictionary for Schools and Colleges, New York: Harper and Brothers
* Bauer, Walter et al. (2001) A Greek–English Lexicon of the New Testament and Other Early Christian Literature, Third edition, Chicago: University of Chicago Press
* Αἴγυπτος in the Diccionario Griego–Español en línea (2006–2025)
* “Αἴγυπτος”, in Slater, William J. (1969) Lexicon to Pindar, Berlin: Walter de Gruyter
* G125 in Strong, James (1979) Strong’s Exhaustive Concordance to the Bible
* Woodhouse, S. C. (1910) English–Greek Dictionary: A Vocabulary of the Attic Language‎, London: Routledge & Kegan Paul Limited. aegyptus idem, page 15.egypt idem, page 263.