The corpus record

χέρνιψ

chernips

160c : 1

Generated live from the audited corpus — every figure on this page is a database query, not prose from memory.

Where it lives

Iphigenia in Tauris 4 · 4.82/10k
Iphigenia in Aulis 4 · 4.48/10k
Eumenides 1 · 1.91/10k
Libation Bearers 1 · 1.86/10k
Oedipus Tyrannus 1 · 1.08/10k
Phoenissae 1 · 1.04/10k
History 1 · 0.07/10k

What it meant

1. χέρνιψ · chernips — Chantraine

χέρνιψ, -160c : 1. «eau pour laver les mains, pour purifier » (Hom., Ar., 5., E., etc.) ; chez Hom. seul acc. sg. χέρνιδα, ensuite fréquent au plur. χέρνιδες ; mais mycén. keniga (malgré l'opinion de Chadwick, cf. Baumbach ΟἹ, 49, 1971, 175) appartient à χέρνιθον, ci-dessous, non à χέρνιψ. D'où : χέρνιδον n. «bassin » (IL. 24,304; ïinser. Délos, etc.); déjà mycén. pl n. keniga (sur un sceau où ce nom d'objet est … — [Chantraine, s.v. χέρνιψ, p. 1274]

2. χέρνιψ · chernips — LSJ

water for washing the hands

water for washing the hands, before meals, Od. 1.136, 3.440, 4.52, etc.: esp. of holy water used before sacrifices, 3.445, Ar. Av. 850, Lys. 1129; ὕδωρ, ὃ ἦν ἄψαυστον σφίσι, πλὴν πρὸς τὰ ἱερὰ χέρνιβι χρῆσθαι Th. l.c., εἴργεσθαι χέρνιβος D. l.c.

2 purifications with holy water, the use of holy water, therein

freq. in pl. χέρνιβες, purifications with holy water, Simon. 45, E. Or. 1602 Ph. 662 (lyr.), etc.; χέρνιβας νέμειν allow the use of holy water, S. OT 240; κοινωνὸς χερνίβων a partaker therein, i.e. an inmate of the same house or companion at table, A. Ag. 1037; εἰς ἱέρʼ εἰσιόντα καὶ χερνίβων καὶ κανῶν ἁψόμενον D. 22.78, cf. E. IA 675, 1479 (lyr.), IT 58, 244, 335; προχύτας χέρνιβάς τʼ ἐνάρξεται Id. IA 955; used before entering the house after a funeral, Id. Alc. 100 (lyr., sg.).

3 libations

rarely of libations to the dead, A. Ch. 129. (On the accent v. Hdn.Gr. 1.246.)

In the wild

χέρνιψ · chernips Aeschylus, Eumenides 656
χέρνιβας · chernibas Aeschylus, Libation Bearers 129–130
χέρνιβάς · chernibas Euripides, Iphigenia in Aulis *)aggelos (DIORISIS sentence 987)
χέρνιβάς · chernibas Euripides, Iphigenia in Aulis *)axilleu/s.955 (DIORISIS sentence 588)
χέρνιβες · chernibes Euripides, Iphigenia in Aulis (DIORISIS sentence 671)
χέρνιβές · chernibes Euripides, Iphigenia in Aulis (DIORISIS sentence 964)

6 of 13 attestations shown. Ask for more.

Where it came from

No etymology authority pointer is recorded for this lemma yet — an honest gap, not an omission. The etymological dictionaries (Beekes, Chantraine, Frisk) are matched incrementally.

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