proper noun · feminineindeclinable, variously declined, fourth declension, third declension
Sapphō
Sapphō f sg (genitive Sapphūs or Sapphō or Sapphōnis)
Classical[ˈsap.pʰoː]Ecclesiastical[ˈsap.fo]
Meaning
- indeclinablea female given name in Ancient Greek, Σαπφώ (Sapphṓ), equivalent to Sappho
[1st century CE], Plinius, Naturalis Historia, lib. XXII, cap. IX, num. 20; in: Pliny Natural History with an English translation in ten volumes Volume VI Libri XX-XXIII By W. H. S. Jones, 1951, page 308f.
This, it is said, is how Phaon of Lesbos too won the love of Sappho, there being much idle trifling on this subject not only among the Magi but also among the Pythagoreans.ᵈ ᵈ As is suggested by the punctuation of Detlefsen and Mayhoff, this sentence is taken to be part of the indirect speech, with multa ablative. With a full stop at Sappho, it could be taken as a comment of Pliny, with multa neuter plural., Guntherus Cisterciensis, De oratione jejunio et eleemosyna libri tredecim, lib. III, cap. V; in: Patrologiae cursus completus sive bibliotheca universalis, integra, uniformis, commoda, oeconomica, omnium SS. patrum, doctorum scriptorumque ecclesiaticorum. Series secunda. Patrologiae tomus CCXII, edited by J.-P. Migne, 1855, col. 131
Those things have interesting influence which arouse desire by the very hearing, as the poetry of Sappho, the elegies of Naso, the comedies of Menander, Plautus, or Terence.
Declension
| form | singular | plural |
|---|---|---|
| nominative | Sapphō | — |
| genitive | Sapphūs Sapphō, Sapphōnis | — |
| dative | Sapphō Sapphōnī | — |
| accusative | Sapphō Sapphōnem | — |
| ablative | Sapphō Sapphōne | — |
| vocative | Sapphō | — |
Sapphō, ūs, f., = Σαπφώ,
I. a celebrated poetess, born at Mytilene, in the island of Lesbos, who, on account of her hopeless love for Phaon, threw herself from the Leucadian rock into the sea. Under her name Ovid composed the fifteenth epistle of his Heroides, Sappho Phaoni; nom. Sapphō, Hor. Ep. 1, 19, 28; Stat. S. 5, 3, 155; Cic. Verr. 2, 4, 57, § 125; gen. Sapphūs, Ov. H. 15, 3; acc. Sapphō, Hor. C. 2, 13, 25; abl. Sappho, Plin. 22, 8, 9, § 20.—Hence, Sap-phĭcus, a, um, adj., of or belonging to Sappho, Sapphic: Musa, i.e. Sappho (as a tenth Muse), Cat. 35, 16:
versus, in Sapphic measure, Aus. Ephem. 22; cf.: hendecasyllabum, Diom. p. 508 P.; and metrum, Serv. Centim. p. 1819 sq. P.Origins
Pre-Greekder. Ancient Greek Σαπφώ (Sapphṓ)bor. Latin Sapphō Borrowed from Ancient Greek Σαπφώ (Sapphṓ).