γρυπός

Forms

γρῡπός (grūpós) m (feminine γρῡπή, neuter γρῡπόν); first/second declension^[1]

Etymology

Beekes considers it Pre-Greek.^[2][3] He points to the Hesychius gloss γρυμπαίνω (grumpaínō, “to be bent”), whose nasal may be a prenasalization of the kind found in Pre-Greek words, and to γρυβός (grubós) beside γρύψ (grúps, “griffin”), which may show the Pre-Greek alternation of stops.^[3] The long /uː/ is also hard to explain from Indo-European.^[2]

The likeness to Old English crumb (“crooked”) and Old High German krump has often been noted.^[4][5] Frisk calls it unmistakable but says the Germanic words admit several explanations, and the DGE and Pokorny accept the link.^[4][5][6] Beekes finds it improbable because of the nasal.^[2] Frisk also rejects grouping it with other Greek words under a common Indo-European root Proto-Indo-European *greu- (“to bend”).^[4] PHILOGLOSSA rates the Pre-Greek explanation as very reliable.^[7]

Earliest recorded meaning

It first appears in Xenophon and Plato, of a hooked, aquiline nose, the opposite of σιμός (simós) “snub-nosed”.^[8][9]

Semantic evolution

In Classical prose it describes above all the nose, and Plato and Xenophon set the hook-nosed against the snub-nosed.^[8][10] Xenophon also uses it of a rounded, bulging belly.^[8] From Xenophon and Aristotle on the abstract γρυπότης (grupótēs) names the curve of the nose.^[8][4] In the physician Aretaeus it describes hooked nails, and the Hippocratic verb γρυπόομαι (grupóomai) means “to become curved”, of the nails.^[8][4]

It survives as Modern Greek γρυπός (grypós), a learned word for a hooked nose or beak.^[11]

Timeline

• 5th–4th century BC – Xenophon and Plato use it of a hooked nose, and Xenophon of a rounded belly.^[8][9][5]
• 4th century BC – Aristotle uses the neuter, “the hooked”, as a noun for hookedness.^[8][10]
• 2nd century AD – Aretaeus uses it of hooked nails.^[8][5]
• Modern Greek – It survives as a learned word for a hooked nose or beak.^[11]

Meanings

Adjective

1. Hook-nosed, with an aquiline nose; opposed to σιμός (simós).^[8][12]
2. Hooked, curved, of nails.^[8][10]
3. Rounded, bulging, of a belly or a garland.^[8][13]

Related words

• γρύψ (grúps)
• γρυπότης (grupótēs)
• σιμός (simós)

Usage notes

Hesychius records several related verbs, among them γρυμπαίνω (grumpaínō), glossed “to become hooked, to bend together”.^[4][3]

References

1. ^ a b c d 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 Frisk, Hjalmar (1960–1972), Griechisches etymologisches Wörterbuch, 3 vols, Heidelberg: Carl Winter
5. ^ a b c d Rodríguez Adrados, Francisco, et al., eds. (1980–), Diccionario Griego-Español, Madrid: CSIC, http://dge.cchs.csic.es/xdge
6. ^ Pokorny, Julius (1959), Indogermanisches etymologisches Wörterbuch, Bern; Munich: Francke
7. ^ Scarborough, Matthew (2025), PHILOGLOSSA: database of Pre-Greek and other non-Indo-European words in Ancient Greek, version 1.0
8. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k Liddell, Henry George; Scott, Robert; Jones, Henry Stuart (1940), A Greek-English Lexicon, 9th ed., Oxford: Clarendon Press
9. ^ a b Keersmaekers, Alek (2021–2025), GLAUx: The Greek Language Automated corpus, https://github.com/alekkeersmaekers/glaux
10. ^ a b c Bailly, Anatole (2020), Dictionnaire grec-français, Bailly 2020 Hugo Chávez ed., ed. Gérard Gréco et al.
11. ^ a b Ινστιτούτο Νεοελληνικών Σπουδών (Ίδρυμα Μανόλη Τριανταφυλλίδη) (1998), Λεξικό της κοινής νεοελληνικής, Thessaloniki: Aristotle University of Thessaloniki
12. ^ Liddell, Henry George; Scott, Robert (1889), An Intermediate Greek-English Lexicon, Oxford: Clarendon Press
13. ^ Дворецкий, И. Х. (1958), Древнегреческо-русский словарь, Moscow: ГИС