ναός

Ancient Greek

Alternative forms

• νεώς (neṓs) — Attic
• νηός (nēós) — Ionic
• ναῦος (naûos) — Aeolic
• νᾱϝός (nāwós) — Laconian

Etymology

From Proto-Hellenic *nahwós, perhaps from Proto-Indo-European *nes- (“to join with, to conceal oneself”) and related to ναίω (naíō, “to dwell”), νέομαι (néomai, “to go or come back”). However, the existence of rare variants ναιός (naiós) and νειός (neiós) suggest a possible Pre-Greek origin.

Pronunciation

 

• IPA^(key): /naː.ós/ → /naˈos/ → /naˈos/

• (5^th BCE Attic) IPA^(key): /naː.ós/
• (1^st CE Egyptian) IPA^(key): /naˈos/
• (4^th CE Koine) IPA^(key): /naˈos/
• (10^th CE Byzantine) IPA^(key): /naˈos/
• (15^th CE Constantinopolitan) IPA^(key): /naˈos/

Noun

νᾱός • (nāós) m (genitive νᾱοῦ); second declension (Doric, Tragic, Koine)

1. a temple
2. innermost part of a temple, sanctuary, the part of the temple considered most pure and holy
   • 53 CE – 55 CE, Paul the Apostle, First Epistle to the Corinthians 3:16:

     οὐκ οἴδατε ὅτι ναὸς θεοῦ ἐστε καὶ τὸ πνεῦμα τοῦ θεοῦ οἰκεῖ ἐν ὑμῖν;

     ouk oídate hóti naòs theoû este kaì tò pneûma toû theoû oikeî en humîn?

     • 1887 translation by Edwin Palmer

       Know ye not that ye are the temple of God, and that the Spirit of God dwelleth in you?

Declension

Second declension of ὁ νᾱός; τοῦ νᾱοῖο (Doric)

Case / #	Singular	Dual	Plural
Nominative	ὁ νᾱός ho nāós	τὼ νᾱώ tṑ nāṓ	τοὶ νᾱοί toì nāoí
Genitive	τοῦ νᾱοῖο toû nāoîo	τοῖν νᾱοῖν toîn nāoîn	τῶν νᾱῶν tôn nāôn
Dative	τῷ νᾱῷ tôi nāôi	τοῖν νᾱοῖν toîn nāoîn	τοῖς νᾱοῖς toîs nāoîs
Accusative	τὸν νᾱόν tòn nāón	τὼ νᾱώ tṑ nāṓ	τοὺς νᾱούς toùs nāoús
Vocative	νᾱέ nāé	νᾱώ nāṓ	νᾱοί nāoí
Notes:	Dialects other than Attic are not well attested. Some forms may be based on conjecture. Use with caution.

Derived terms

• ναοφύλαξ (naophúlax)
• ναΐσκος (naḯskos)
• ναἶσχος (naîskhos)

Descendants

• Greek: ναός (naós)
• → Aramaic:
  • Palmyrene Aramaic: 𐡮𐡥𐡯𐡠 (nwsʾ)
  • Classical Syriac: ܢܘܣܐ (nawsā)
    • → Arabic: نَاوُوس (nāwūs)
  • Christian Palestinian Aramaic: ܢܐܘܣܐ
  • Jewish Palestinian Aramaic: נווסה
  • Jewish Literary Aramaic: נוסא (nawsā)
• → English: naos
• → Persian: ناوس (nâvos)
  • → Ottoman Turkish: ناوس (navus)

See also

• ἱερόν (hierón)

Further reading

• Pokorny, Julius (1959) Indogermanisches etymologisches Wörterbuch [Indo-European Etymological Dictionary] (in German), volume 2, Bern, München: Francke Verlag, page 766
• “ναός”, in Liddell & Scott (1940) A Greek–English Lexicon, Oxford: Clarendon Press
• “ναός”, in Liddell & Scott (1889) An Intermediate Greek–English Lexicon, New York: Harper & Brothers
• “ναός”, in Slater, William J. (1969) Lexicon to Pindar, Berlin: Walter de Gruyter
• G3485 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.
  • chapel idem, page 124.
  • sanctuary idem, page 733.
  • shrine idem, page 771.
  • temple idem, page 860.
• 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

Greek

Etymology

From Ancient Greek ναός (naós, “temple”).

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /naˈos/

Noun

ναός • (naós) m (plural ναοί)

1. (religion) place of worship: church, temple, mosque, synagogue

Declension

Declension of ναός

	singular	plural
nominative	ναός •	ναοί •
genitive	ναού •	ναών •
accusative	ναό •	ναούς •
vocative	ναέ •	ναοί •

See also

• ναυς (nafs)