Etymologically
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καλύπτω

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Pronunciation

  • 5th-century BC Attic: /ka.lýp.tɔː/[1]
  • 4th-century AD Koine: /kaˈlyp.to/[1]
  • 10th-century Byzantine: /kaˈlyp.to/[1]

Forms

κᾰλῠ́πτω (kalúptō) [1]

Etymology

Beekes considers the root ⟨καλυβ-, καλυπ-, καλυφ-⟩ Pre-Greek, from Pre-Greek: he takes καλύβη (kalúbē, “hut”) and καλυφή (kaluphḗ, “submerged land”) as cognates, and neither the vowel ⟨α⟩ nor ⟨υ⟩ followed by varying labials can be explained from Indo-European.[2][3][1]

Chantraine and Frisk derive it from Proto-Indo-European *ḱel- (“to cover, conceal”), extended with ⟨υ⟩ and a labial, perhaps under the influence of κρύπτω (krúptō, “to hide”), which it resembles in form and sense.[4][5][1] That root is found in Old Irish celim, in Latin occulō and cēlō (“to hide”), and in Old High German helan “to conceal”.[4][5][2] Chantraine also puts κολεός (koleós, “sheath”), καλιά (kalīā́, “hut”) and κέλυφος (kélūphos, “husk”) in the same family.[4][6]

Earliest recorded meaning

Homer uses it widely: gods shroud a warrior in mist, a wave covers a man, and men cover their heads with their cloaks.[7][8] Of death it says τὸν δὲ σκότος ὄσσε κάλυψεν, “darkness covered his eyes”.[9][7]

Semantic evolution

Tragedy uses it of covering the dead and of burying them in earth.[7] It was rare in Attic prose but grew more frequent from Aristotle on, and BDAG thinks it passed into the Koine from Ionic.[10] In the New Testament it is used of covering a lamp with a vessel, of hills covering people, and of a boat engulfed by waves.[10][7]

The nymph Καλυψώ (Kalupsṓ), “the hider”, is named from it, and its compound ἀποκαλύπτω (apokalúptō) “to uncover, reveal” gave ἀποκάλυψις (apokálupsis), the source of the English word apocalypse.[11] Modern Greek καλύπτω (kalýpto) is a learned word with new senses modelled on French couvrir and English cover.[12]

Timeline

  • Homer – The Iliad and the Odyssey use it for covering with mist, darkness, waves and clothing.[7][8][13]
  • 6th–5th century BC – Aeschylus uses it of covering the dead.[7][14]
  • 5th century BC – Euripides uses it of burying the dead in earth.[7][14]
  • 5th–4th century BC – Xenophon is one of the few Attic prose writers to use it.[10][14]
  • Late 14th century – English apocalypse, from its derivative ἀποκάλυψις, is first recorded.[11]
  • Modern Greek – The learned Modern Greek καλύπτω (kalýpto) takes senses of French couvrir and English cover.[12]

Meanings

Verb

  1. To cover or envelop, especially in mist, darkness or a cloud.[7]
  2. To cover for protection, with armour or a shield.[7]
  3. To cover a corpse with a shroud, and to bury.[7]
  4. To cover one's face or body with a garment, and in the middle voice to veil oneself.[7]
  5. Of death, sleep or grief: to come over someone.[7]
  6. Of a wave or the sea: to engulf.[7][10]
  7. To hide, conceal.[10][2]

Word family

  • ἀμφικαλύπτω (amphikalúptō)
  • ἀνακαλύπτω (anakalúptō)
  • ἀποκαλύπτω (apokalúptō)
  • διακαλύπτω (diakalúptō)
  • ἐγκαλύπτω (enkalúptō)
  • ἐκκαλύπτω (ekkalúptō)
  • ἐπικαλύπτω (epikalúptō)
  • κατακαλύπτω (katakalúptō)
  • καταμφικαλύπτω (katamphikalúptō)
  • παρακαλύπτω (parakalúptō)
  • περικαλύπτω (perikalúptō)
  • προκαλύπτω (prokalúptō)
  • συγκαλύπτω (sunkalúptō)
  • ἀκάλυπτος (akáluptos)
  • ἀνακαλυπτήρια (anakaluptḗria)
  • ἀνακαλυπτήριον (anakaluptḗrion)
  • ἀνακάλυπτρα (anakáluptra)
  • ἀνεγκάλυπτος (anenkáluptos)
  • ἀποκάλυψις (apokálupsis)
  • καλυπτός (kaluptós)
  • καλύπτρα (kalúptrā)
  • καλύπτρη (kalúptrē)
  • κάλυψ (kálups)

References

  1. ^ a b c d e f 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. ^ Beekes, Robert S. P. (2014), Pre-Greek: Phonology, Morphology, Lexicon, ed. Stefan Norbruis, Leiden; Boston: Brill
  4. ^ 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
  5. ^ a b Frisk, Hjalmar (1960–1972), Griechisches etymologisches Wörterbuch, 3 vols, Heidelberg: Carl Winter
  6. ^ Pokorny, Julius (1959), Indogermanisches etymologisches Wörterbuch, Bern; Munich: Francke
  7. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m Diggle, James, et al., eds. (2021), The Cambridge Greek Lexicon, Cambridge: Cambridge University Press
  8. ^ a b Cunliffe, Richard John (1924), A Lexicon of the Homeric Dialect, London: Blackie and Son
  9. ^ Babiniotis, Georgios (2010), Ετυμολογικό λεξικό της νέας ελληνικής γλώσσας [Etymological Dictionary of Modern Greek], Athens: Κέντρο Λεξικολογίας
  10. ^ a b c d e Bauer, Walter; Danker, Frederick W., et al. (2000), A Greek-English Lexicon of the New Testament and Other Early Christian Literature, 3rd ed., Chicago: University of Chicago Press
  11. ^ a b Harper, Douglas. Online Etymology Dictionary, https://www.etymonline.com
  12. ^ a b Ινστιτούτο Νεοελληνικών Σπουδών (Ίδρυμα Μανόλη Τριανταφυλλίδη) (1998), Λεξικό της κοινής νεοελληνικής, Thessaloniki: Aristotle University of Thessaloniki
  13. ^ Keersmaekers, Alek (2021–2025), GLAUx: The Greek Language Automated corpus, https://github.com/alekkeersmaekers/glaux
  14. ^ a b c Rodríguez Adrados, Francisco, et al., eds. (1980–), Diccionario Griego-Español, Madrid: CSIC, http://dge.cchs.csic.es/xdge