The declension of nouns in Latin that are borrowed from Greek varies significantly between different types of nouns, though certain patterns are common. Many nouns, particularly

proper names A proper noun is a noun that identifies a single entity and is used to refer to that entity (''Africa'', ''Jupiter'', ''Sarah'', ''Microsoft)'' as distinguished from a common noun, which is a noun that refers to a class of entities (''continent, ...

, in particular, are fully

Latin Latin (, or , ) is a classical language belonging to the Italic branch of the Indo-European languages. Latin was originally a dialect spoken in the lower Tiber area (then known as Latium) around present-day Rome, but through the power of the ...

ized and declined regularly according to their stem-characteristics. Others, however, either retain their

Greek Greek may refer to: Greece Anything of, from, or related to Greece, a country in Southern Europe: *Greeks, an ethnic group. *Greek language, a branch of the Indo-European language family. **Proto-Greek language, the assumed last common ancestor ...

forms exclusively, or have the Greek and Latin forms side by side. These variations occur principally in the

singular Singular may refer to: * Singular, the grammatical number that denotes a unit quantity, as opposed to the plural and other forms * Singular homology * SINGULAR, an open source Computer Algebra System (CAS) * Singular or sounder, a group of boar, ...

; in the

plural The plural (sometimes abbreviated pl., pl, or ), in many languages, is one of the values of the grammatical category of number. The plural of a noun typically denotes a quantity greater than the default quantity represented by that noun. This de ...

the declension is usually regular. Note, however, that many Greek names of the third declension in Latin pass over into the

first declension The first declension is a category of declension that consists of mostly feminine nouns in Ancient Greek and Latin with the defining feature of a long ''ā'' (analysed as either a part of the stem or a case-ending). In Greek grammar, it is also call ...

in the Plural; as, Thūcȳdidās, Hyperīdae, and many names in -crates (such as, Sōcratae as well as Sōcratēs). In the vocative singular, names in -is, -ys, -ēs, -eus and -ās (Gen., -antis) form the vocative by dropping the -s from the nominative. In the accusative singular, many proper and some

common noun A proper noun is a noun that identifies a single entity and is used to refer to that entity (''Africa'', ''Jupiter'', ''Sarah'', ''Microsoft)'' as distinguished from a common noun, which is a noun that refers to a class of entities (''continent, ...

s, imparisyllabic, often take the Greek -a for -em. Names in -ēs, is and ys take -ēn, -in and -yn as well as -ēm, -im and ym. A few Greek nouns in -os, mostly geographical, belong to the

second declension The second declension is a category of nouns in Latin and Greek with similar case formation. In particular, these nouns are thematic, with an original ''o'' in most of their forms. In Classical Latin, the short ''o'' of the nominative and accusativ ...

, and sometimes make Accusative in -on as Dēlos, Acc. Dēlon (but Dēlum in prose). In the genitive singular, names in -ēs, parisyllabic, take -ī as well as -is. Some feminine nouns in -ô have the genitive in -ūs. Greek names ending in -eus are declined both according to the Greek and according to the Latin second declension (but the genitive -eī and the dative -eō are often pronounced as one syllable in poets). In the nominative plural, imparisyllabic Nouns often take -es instead of -ēs and, in the accusative plural, the same nouns often take -ā instead of -ēs. In the genitive plural, -ōn and -eōn are found in the titles of books; as, Geōrgicōn and Metamorphōseōn. Greek

neuter nouns In linguistics, grammatical gender system is a specific form of noun class system, where nouns are assigned with gender categories that are often not related to their real-world qualities. In languages with grammatical gender, most or all nouns ...

in -ma (Gen., -matis) always make their dative and

ablative In grammar, the ablative case (pronounced ; sometimes abbreviated ) is a grammatical case for nouns, pronouns, and adjectives in the grammars of various languages; it is sometimes used to express motion away from something, among other uses. ...

plurals in -īs instead of -ibus.

First declension

Proper names ending in -ē (fem.) and -ās (masc.), and many in -ēs (masc.), especially

patronymic A patronymic, or patronym, is a component of a personal name based on the given name of one's father, grandfather (avonymic), or an earlier male ancestor. Patronymics are still in use, including mandatory use, in many countries worldwide, alt ...

s in -dēs, belong to the First declension. So a few common nouns, as ''sōphistēs'' "sophist". Many Greek names in -ē have two forms, one Greek and one Latin: as Atalantē, -ēs, or

Atalanta Atalanta (; grc-gre, Ἀταλάντη, Atalantē) meaning "equal in weight", is a heroine in Greek mythology. There are two versions of the huntress Atalanta: one from Arcadia (region), Arcadia, whose parents were Iasus and Clymene (mythology ...

First declension

Declension of proper names

Declension of nouns

Second declension

Declension of proper names

Declension of nouns

Third declension

Declension of proper names

Declension of nouns

Fourth declension

Declension of nouns

Mixed declension

Declension of proper names

References