Etymologically
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κλέπτω

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Pronunciation

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

Forms

κλέπτω (kléptō) [1]

Etymology

It is inherited from Proto-Hellenic *kléptō,[1] from the Indo-European root Proto-Indo-European *klep- (“to steal secretly, hide”).[2][3][1] Beekes thinks the present in -πτω (-ptō) is a recent replacement of an older thematic root present, the one kept in Latin clepō (“to steal”) and Gothic 𐌷𐌻𐌹𐍆𐌰𐌽 (hlifan, “to steal”), but notes that the subjunctive Tocharian B kälyp- (“to steal”) presupposes a yod-present like the Greek one.[2] The s-aorist κλέψαι (klépsai) has a parallel in the s-perfect of the same verb in Latin.[2]

Isolated nouns from the same root may survive in Middle Irish cluain (“deceit, flattery”) and in Slavic words for a cover or closure.[2] Lithuanian slė̃pti (“to conceal”) has a different beginning and may be a variant of the root.[2] Beekes rejects a connection with καλύπτω (kalúptō, “to cover”).[2]

Earliest recorded meaning

In the Iliad the verb means both to steal and to deceive: one hero tells another not to “steal” in his mind, that is, not to try to outwit him, and elsewhere it is used of theft.[4][5] In another passage Anchises “stole from” a breed of divine horses, getting foals of that stock in secret.[4]

Semantic evolution

From the start the word covered theft and every kind of secrecy and deceit.[2][4] Hesiod says that the mind of Zeus cannot be cheated, and Pindar and the tragedians use it of deceiving someone's wits.[4][6] Tragedy and prose extend it to concealing or disguising something, to doing a deed by stealth (in Sophocles' Electra a killing is to be carried out by trickery), and, in Xenophon, to seizing mountains secretly.[4] In Attic it is the ordinary verb for stealing goods and public money, and the active participle describes a thievish look in Aristophanes.[6][4] Aristotle uses the passive of a listener whose attention is beguiled by style.[4]

The New Testament has it in the commandment “thou shalt not steal” and of stealing the body of Jesus.[7] Medieval Greek reshaped it as Byzantine Greek κλέβω (klévo), built on the aorist stem κλεψ- as τρίβω (trívo) stands beside έτριψα (étripsa); the forms κλέβω and Modern Greek κλέφτω (kléfto) are both current today.[8][9] English kleptomania is formed from the noun κλέπτης (kléptēs, “thief”).[10]

Timeline

  • Homer – The Iliad uses it for stealing and for outwitting someone.[4][5]
  • Before the 6th century BC – Hesiod uses it for theft and for cheating the mind of Zeus.[5][4][11]
  • 5th century BC – Sophocles and Euripides use it for doing something by stealth and for disguising a fault.[4][11]
  • 5th–4th century BC – Aristophanes uses it of embezzling public money.[6][11]
  • 4th century BC – Aristotle uses the passive of a listener beguiled by style.[4][11]
  • 1st century AD – The New Testament quotes the commandment against stealing.[7]
  • Medieval Greek – The verb is reshaped as κλέβω, still used in Modern Greek beside κλέφτω.[8][9]
  • 1830 – English kleptomania is formed from κλέπτης.[10]

Meanings

Verb

  1. To steal, take by theft; used absolutely, to commit theft.[4][6]
  2. To cheat, deceive, beguile someone's mind or wits.[4][6]
  3. To conceal, keep secret, disguise.[4]
  4. To do something secretly or treacherously.[4]
  5. To seize or occupy a place secretly.[4]
  6. To bring about clandestinely; in the passive, to be smuggled in.[4]

Word family

  • ἀνακλέπτω (anakléptō)
  • ἀποκλέπτω (apokléptō)
  • διακλέπτω (diakléptō)
  • ἐκκλέπτω (ekkléptō)
  • κλέμμα (klémma)
  • κλέπτης (kléptēs)
  • κλεπτοσύνη (kleptosúnē)
  • κλοπεύς (klopeús)
  • κλοπή (klopḗ)
  • κλοπός (klopós)
  • παρακλέπτω (parakléptō)
  • συγκλέπτω (sunkléptō)
  • κλεπτήρ (kleptḗr)

References

  1. ^ a b c d e f Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
  2. ^ a b c d e f g 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. ^ Rix, Helmut, et al. (2001), Lexikon der indogermanischen Verben, 2nd ed., Wiesbaden: Reichert
  4. ^ 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
  5. ^ a b c Keersmaekers, Alek (2021–2025), GLAUx: The Greek Language Automated corpus, https://github.com/alekkeersmaekers/glaux
  6. ^ a b c d e Diggle, James, et al., eds. (2021), The Cambridge Greek Lexicon, Cambridge: Cambridge University Press
  7. ^ a b 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
  8. ^ a b Ινστιτούτο Νεοελληνικών Σπουδών (Ίδρυμα Μανόλη Τριανταφυλλίδη) (1998), Λεξικό της κοινής νεοελληνικής, Thessaloniki: Aristotle University of Thessaloniki
  9. ^ a b Kriaras, Emmanuel, Επιτομή του Λεξικού της μεσαιωνικής ελληνικής δημώδους γραμματείας 1100–1669, Κέντρο Ελληνικής Γλώσσας, https://www.greek-language.gr
  10. ^ a b Harper, Douglas. Online Etymology Dictionary, https://www.etymonline.com
  11. ^ a b c d Rodríguez Adrados, Francisco, et al., eds. (1980–), Diccionario Griego-Español, Madrid: CSIC, http://dge.cchs.csic.es/xdge