zythum

English

Etymology

From Latin zȳthum, from Ancient Greek ζῦθος (zûthos).

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /ˈzaɪθəm/

• Audio (Southern England):

  (file)

Noun

zythum (uncountable)

1. (historical) An unfermented kind of Egyptian malt beer.
   • 1991 September, Stephen Fry, chapter 1, in The Liar, London: Heinemann, →ISBN, →OCLC, section I, pages 14–15:

     Cartwright looked up from the Chamber’s^[sic] Encyclopaedia […] One day he would get right to the end, to zythum. Not that he needed to. He had already peeped ahead and seen that it was a kind of ancient Egyptian beer, much recommended by Diodorus Siculus – whoever he was.

Synonyms

• zythos, sisni

References

• “zythum”, in Webster’s Revised Unabridged Dictionary, Springfield, Mass.: G. & C. Merriam, 1913, →OCLC.

French

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /zi.tɔm/

• Audio:

  (file)

Noun

zythum m (plural zythums)

1. zythum

Further reading

• “zythum”, in Trésor de la langue française informatisé [Digitized Treasury of the French Language], 2012.

Latin

Etymology

Borrowed from Ancient Greek ζῦθος (zûthos).

Pronunciation

• (Classical Latin) IPA^(key): /ˈzyː.tʰum/, [ˈd̪͡z̪yːt̪ʰʊ̃ˑ]
• (modern Italianate Ecclesiastical) IPA^(key): /ˈd͡zi.tum/, [ˈd̪͡z̪iːt̪um]
• (Traditional English) IPA^(key): /ˈzaɪ̯.θəm/

Noun

zȳthum n (genitive zȳthī); second declension

1. a type of alcoholic drink associated with Egypt

Declension

Second-declension noun (neuter).

	singular	plural
nominative	zȳthum	zȳtha
genitive	zȳthī	zȳthōrum
dative	zȳthō	zȳthīs
accusative	zȳthum	zȳtha
ablative	zȳthō	zȳthīs
vocative	zȳthum	zȳtha

Coordinate terms

• camum, cēlia, cervēsa

References

• “zythum”, in Charlton T. Lewis and Charles Short (1879) A Latin Dictionary, Oxford: Clarendon Press
• “zythum”, in Harry Thurston Peck, editor (1898), Harper's Dictionary of Classical Antiquities, New York: Harper & Brothers
• “zythum”, in William Smith et al., editor (1890), A Dictionary of Greek and Roman Antiquities, London: William Wayte. G. E. Marindin
• zythum in Gaffiot, Félix (1934) Dictionnaire illustré latin-français, Hachette.
• “zȳthum” on page 2,126/3 of the Oxford Latin Dictionary (1st ed., 1968–82)