clepsydra

Alternative forms

• klepsydra, klepsudra

Etymology

From Latin clepsydra, from Ancient Greek κλεψύδρα (klepsúdra).

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /ˈklɛpsɪdɹə/

Noun

clepsydra (plural clepsydras or clepsydrae)

1. A water clock, especially as used in the ancient world.
   • 1953, John Wyndham, The Kraken Wakes, page 124

     "The dull, unflavoured drops from life's clepsydra".

   • 2006, Thomas Pynchon, Against the Day, Vintage 2007, p. 856:

     They sat among the choiring clepsydras of the evening garden, time elapsing in a dozen ways, allowing their cigars to go out, keeping a companionable silence.

Anagrams

• CD players

Etymology

From Ancient Greek κλεψύδρα (klepsúdra, “pipette, water clock”).

Pronunciation

• (Classical) IPA^(key): /ˈkle.psy.dra/, [ˈkɫɛ.psʏ.dra]

Noun

clepsydra f (genitive clepsydrae); first declension

1. water clock, clepsydra

References

• clepsydra in Charlton T. Lewis and Charles Short (1879) A Latin Dictionary, Oxford: Clarendon Press
• clepsydra in Charlton T. Lewis (1891) An Elementary Latin Dictionary, New York: Harper & Brothers
• clepsydra in Charles du Fresne du Cange’s Glossarium Mediæ et Infimæ Latinitatis (augmented edition, 1883–1887)
• clepsydra in Gaffiot, Félix (1934) Dictionnaire Illustré Latin-Français, Hachette
• clepsydra in The Perseus Project (1999) Perseus Encyclopedia‎
• clepsydra in Harry Thurston Peck, editor (1898) Harper's Dictionary of Classical Antiquities, New York: Harper & Brothers
• clepsydra in William Smith et al., editor (1890) A Dictionary of Greek and Roman Antiquities, London: William Wayte. G. E. Marindin