morphē

μορφή morphḗ morphē/dt.

Ancient Greek

Etymology

Unknown. Possibly of Pre-Greek origin.

• Many attempts have been made to connect it with Latin fōrma (see there for theory of its origin), but the proposed relationship is problematic.
• An alternative relationship has been proposed with Baltic terms like Latgalian mārga (“daughter, lass”) and Lithuanian merga (“girl”), with a semantic shift "shape" > "lovely shape" > "girl".

Pronunciation

[ more ▼] 

• IPA^(key): /mor.pʰɛ̌ː/ → /morˈɸi/ → /morˈfi/

Noun

μορφή • (morphḗ) f (genitive μορφῆς); first declension

1. shape, form
2. appearance
3. outline
4. kind, type