κάλαμος

Ancient Greek

Alternative forms

• καλάμη (kalámē)

Etymology

From Proto-Indo-European *ḱolh₂mos (“reed, straw”) via its zero-grade stem (such as genitive *ḱl̥h₂mós, with a shift in accent to *ḱĺ̥h₂mos), or (according to Beekes) independently thematicized from an original ablauting paradigm *ḱólh₂-m̥ ~ *ḱl̥h₂-ém-. Cognates include Latin culmus, Russian соло́ма (solóma), Old Norse halmr, and Old English healm (English haulm).

Pronunciation

 

• IPA^(key): /ká.la.mos/ → /ˈka.la.mos/ → /ˈka.la.mos/

• (5^th BCE Attic) IPA^(key): /ká.la.mos/
• (1^st CE Egyptian) IPA^(key): /ˈka.la.mos/
• (4^th CE Koine) IPA^(key): /ˈka.la.mos/
• (10^th CE Byzantine) IPA^(key): /ˈka.la.mos/
• (15^th CE Constantinopolitan) IPA^(key): /ˈka.la.mos/

Noun

κᾰ́λᾰμος • (kálamos) m (genitive κᾰλᾰ́μου); second declension

1. a reed
2. anything made of reed or cane
   1. staff, rod
   2. measuring rod
   3. pen
   4. flute
   5. shaft of an arrow
3. collectively, of plants, which are neither bush, nor tree

Inflection

Second declension of ὁ κᾰ́λᾰμος; τοῦ κᾰλᾰ́μου (Attic)

Case / #	Singular	Dual	Plural
Nominative	ὁ κᾰ́λᾰμος ho kálamos	τὼ κᾰλᾰ́μω tṑ kalámō	οἱ κᾰ́λᾰμοι hoi kálamoi
Genitive	τοῦ κᾰλᾰ́μου toû kalámou	τοῖν κᾰλᾰ́μοιν toîn kalámoin	τῶν κᾰλᾰ́μων tôn kalámōn
Dative	τῷ κᾰλᾰ́μῳ tôi kalámōi	τοῖν κᾰλᾰ́μοιν toîn kalámoin	τοῖς κᾰλᾰ́μοις toîs kalámois
Accusative	τὸν κᾰ́λᾰμον tòn kálamon	τὼ κᾰλᾰ́μω tṑ kalámō	τοὺς κᾰλᾰ́μους toùs kalámous
Vocative	κᾰ́λᾰμε kálame	κᾰλᾰ́μω kalámō	κᾰ́λᾰμοι kálamoi
Notes:	This table gives Attic inflectional endings. For declension in other dialects, see Appendix:Ancient Greek dialectal declension.

Derived terms

• καλαμάγρωστις (kalamágrōstis)
• καλάμινος (kaláminos)
• καλάμιον (kalámion)
• κᾰλᾰμῐ́ς (kalamís)
• κᾰλᾰμῐ́σκος (kalamískos)
• κᾰλᾰμογρᾰφῐ́ᾱ (kalamographíā)
• καλαμοθήκη (kalamothḗkē)

 

Descendants

• → Greek: κάλαμος (kálamos) (learned)
• → Arabic: قَلَم (qalam) (see there for further descendants)
  • → English: qalam
• → Old Armenian: կալամոն (kalamon)
• → Hebrew: קולמוס (kulmus), קלמרין (kalmarin) (> קלמר (kalmar))
• → Latin: calamus (see there for further descendants)
• → Sanskrit: कलम (kalama)

Further reading

• “κάλαμος”, in Liddell & Scott (1940) A Greek–English Lexicon, Oxford: Clarendon Press
• “κάλαμος”, in Liddell & Scott (1889) An Intermediate Greek–English Lexicon, New York: Harper & Brothers
• κάλαμος in Bailly, Anatole (1935) Le Grand Bailly: Dictionnaire grec-français, Paris: Hachette
• 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
• “κάλαμος”, in Slater, William J. (1969) Lexicon to Pindar, Berlin: Walter de Gruyter
• G2563 in Strong, James (1979) Strong’s Exhaustive Concordance to the Bible
• κάλαμος in Trapp, Erich, et al. (1994–2007) Lexikon zur byzantinischen Gräzität besonders des 9.-12. Jahrhunderts [the Lexicon of Byzantine Hellenism, Particularly the 9th–12th Centuries], Verlag der Österreichischen Akademie der Wissenschaften
• Woodhouse, S. C. (1910) English–Greek Dictionary: A Vocabulary of the Attic Language‎^[1], London: Routledge & Kegan Paul Limited.
  • fishing-rod idem, page 323.
  • pen idem, page 602.
  • reed idem, page 684.
  • rush idem, page 727.
  • sedge idem, page 748.
  • straw idem, page 823.
  • stubble idem, page 828.

Greek

Etymology

Learned borrowing from Ancient Greek κάλαμος (kálamos); doublet of καλάμι (kalámi) and καλέμι (kalémi). Also see καλαμάρι (kalamári).
The figurative sense, a Semantic loan from French plume.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /ˈka.la.mos/
• Hyphenation: κά‧λα‧μος

Noun

κάλαμος • (kálamos) m (plural κάλαμοι)

1. (formal) reed pen
2. (formal) reed, cane
3. (figurative) literary art of a writer

Declension

	singular	plural
nominative	κάλαμος (kálamos)	κάλαμοι (kálamoi)
genitive	καλάμου (kalámou)	καλάμων (kalámon)
accusative	κάλαμο (kálamo)	καλάμους (kalámous)
vocative	κάλαμε (kálame)	κάλαμοι (kálamoi)

Related terms

• καλάμι n (kalámi, “reed, fishing rod, shin”) & related e.g. καλαμιά f (kalamiá, “reed”), καλαμάκι n (kalamáki, “small rod, skewer”)
• καλαμοειδής (kalamoeidís)
• Κάλαμος m (Kálamos) (placename, especially of resort near Athens)
• καλαμώδης m (kalamódis)

See also

• καλάμη f (kalámē) (ancient feminine form)
• Κάλαμος (disambiguation) on the Greek Wikipedia.Wikipedia ^el