αἰπύς

Pronunciation

• 5th-century BC Attic: /ai̯.pýs/^[1]
• 4th-century AD Koine: /ɛˈpys/^[1]
• 10th-century Byzantine: /eˈpys/^[1]

Forms

αἰπῠ́ς (aipús) m (feminine αἰπεῖᾰ, neuter αἰπύ); first/third declension^[1]

Etymology

Beekes considers it Pre-Greek.^[2][3] Following Furnée, he connects it with αἶψα (aîpsa, “suddenly”), ἐξαίφνης (exaíphnēs), ἐξαπίνης (exapínēs), ἄφνω (áphnō) and ἄφαρ (áphar), all meaning “suddenly”.^[2][3][1] These show the alternations of π with φ, of a labial with ψ, and of αι with α, which point to Pre-Greek *apy- whose palatalized consonant was anticipated as αι-.^[2][3]

The DGE instead reconstructs a laryngeal root behind αἶπος (aîpos, “height”), αἰπύς and the adverb for “suddenly”, which it also finds in a Sanskrit verb meaning “to hasten”.^[4]

Earliest recorded meaning

It is an epic word from the Iliad on (2.538).^[5][6] Homer uses it mostly of cities on rocky heights, above all Troy, and of hills; figuratively it qualifies destruction, “sheer” ruin, and also wrath and the toil of war.^[6][7][8] The neuter is used impersonally: “it will be a hard task for him” (Iliad 13.317).^[6][7]

Semantic evolution

Homer also has the thematic forms αἰπά and αἰπήν.^[8] Hesiod uses it of a high-pitched noise and of trickery.^[7][6] In Solon, Pindar, Bacchylides and Sophocles it describes the heavens, and Pindar uses it of death and of darkness.^[7][6] It remained a poetic word, rare in tragedy.^[6][8] Hellenistic poets such as Apollonius Rhodius use it of tall buildings and form a comparative, and Agathias (6th century AD) speaks of the loftiest wisdom.^[7][6][4] Hesychius glosses it as “great, dread, high, lofty”.^[9]

Timeline

• Homer – The Iliad uses it of steep cities and hills, and of sheer destruction.^[6][7]
• Before the 6th century BC – Hesiod uses it of a high-pitched noise and of trickery.^[7][6][4]
• 6th–5th century BC – Pindar uses it of death and darkness.^[6][7][4]
• 5th century BC – Bacchylides and Sophocles use it of the sky.^[6][4]
• 3rd century BC – Apollonius Rhodius uses it of tall buildings and forms a comparative.^[7][4]
• 6th century AD – Agathias uses the superlative of wisdom.^[6][4]

Meanings

Adjective

1. Steep, sheer, precipitous, of mountains, cliffs, walls and islands.^[6][7]
2. Of cities, set on a height.^[6][7]
3. High, of the sky or the home of the gods; of a noose, hanging high.^[6][7]
4. Tall, of buildings.^[7]
5. Of a sound, high-pitched, shrill.^[7]
6. (figurative) Sheer, utter, of death and destruction; towering, of wrath; arduous, of toil; deep, of trickery.^[6][7]
7. (neuter, impersonal) A hard, precipitous task (it will be hard for someone to do something).^[6][7]

Related words

• αἶψα (aîpsa)
• ἄφνω (áphnō)
• ἄφαρ (áphar)
• ἐξαίφνης (exaíphnēs)

References

1. ^ a b c d e Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
2. ^ a b c Beekes, Robert S. P. (2010), Etymological Dictionary of Greek, with the assistance of Lucien van Beek, Leiden Indo-European Etymological Dictionary Series 10, Leiden; Boston: Brill
3. ^ a b c Beekes, Robert S. P. (2014), Pre-Greek: Phonology, Morphology, Lexicon, ed. Stefan Norbruis, Leiden; Boston: Brill
4. ^ a b c d e f g Rodríguez Adrados, Francisco, et al., eds. (1980–), Diccionario Griego-Español, Madrid: CSIC, http://dge.cchs.csic.es/xdge
5. ^ Keersmaekers, Alek (2021–2025), GLAUx: The Greek Language Automated corpus, https://github.com/alekkeersmaekers/glaux
6. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m n o p q Liddell, Henry George; Scott, Robert; Jones, Henry Stuart (1940), A Greek-English Lexicon, 9th ed., Oxford: Clarendon Press
7. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m n o p Diggle, James, et al., eds. (2021), The Cambridge Greek Lexicon, Cambridge: Cambridge University Press
8. ^ a b c Chantraine, Pierre (2009), Dictionnaire étymologique de la langue grecque: histoire des mots, new ed. with a supplement (Chroniques d'étymologie grecque 1–10), Paris: Klincksieck
9. ^ Hesychius of Alexandria, Lexicon, ed. Kurt Latte (Α–Ο, Copenhagen 1953–1966) and Moritz Schmidt (Π–Ω, Jena 1858–1868)