κραιπάλη

Forms

κραιπᾰ́λη (kraipálē) f (genitive κραιπᾰ́λης); first declension^[1]

Etymology

Beekes considers it probably Pre-Greek.^[2] Its ending is the suffix of ἀγκάλη (ankálē), μασχάλη (maskhálē) and σκυτάλη (skutálē), but the rest of the word is unexplained.^[2][1] A link with κραιπνός (kraipnós, “swift, rushing”), with an interchange of ν and λ, is possible for the meaning but not evident.^[2] Latin borrowed the word as Latin crāpula (“drunkenness”), with a long ā, which Beekes takes as a trace of the Pre-Greek variation between ⟨αι⟩ and ⟨ᾱ⟩.^[2][3] Babiniotis also allows that both the Greek and the Latin word come from a non-Indo-European language.^[4]

Ancient doctors, according to Galen, derived the word from the head being shaken (κάρα (kára, “head”) + πάλλω (pállō, “to shake”)).^[4]

Earliest recorded meaning

It is first found in the late 5th century BC, in the Hippocratic writings, for the headache after heavy drinking, and in Aristophanes' Acharnians for a drinking-bout.^[5][4][6]

Semantic evolution

In Aristophanes the word may refer either to the night's drinking or to its after-effects; as BDAG notes, both the carousing and the hangover are associated in its use.^[7][8] The doctors use it for the drunken headache, as in the Hippocratic Airs, Waters, Places and in Aristotle's Problems.^[5] From Menander on it can mean simply drunkenness.^[5][7]

In the New Testament, Luke pairs it with μέθη (méthē, “drunkenness”) as a sign of dissipation.^[8][5] Latin crāpula continued it in the Roman world.^[3] Modern Greek κραιπάλη (kraipáli) is a learned revival meaning debauchery, a life without restraint in pleasures.^[9]

Timeline

• 5th century BC – The Hippocratic writings use it for the headache after drinking.^[5][4]
• 5th–4th century BC – Aristophanes uses it for a drinking-bout.^[5][7]
• 4th–3rd century BC – Menander uses it for drunkenness.^[5][7]
• 1st century AD – The Gospel of Luke warns against it together with drunkenness.^[8]
• Modern Greek – κραιπάλη (kraipáli) is revived as a learned word for debauchery.^[9]

Meanings

Noun

1. A drinking-bout, a night of heavy drinking.^[5][7]
2. Drunkenness, intoxication.^[5][7]
3. (medicine) A drunken headache, a hangover.^[5][2]

Word family

• κραιπαλάω (kraipaláō)
• κραιπαλώδης (kraipalṓdēs)

Related words

• Latin crāpula

References

1. ^ a b c d e Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
2. ^ a b c d e 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 Saalfeld, Günther Alexander (1874), Index Graecorum vocabulorum in linguam latinam translatorum, Berlin: Weidmann
4. ^ a b c d Babiniotis, Georgios (2010), Ετυμολογικό λεξικό της νέας ελληνικής γλώσσας [Etymological Dictionary of Modern Greek], Athens: Κέντρο Λεξικολογίας
5. ^ a b c d e f g h i j Liddell, Henry George; Scott, Robert; Jones, Henry Stuart (1940), A Greek-English Lexicon, 9th ed., Oxford: Clarendon Press
6. ^ Keersmaekers, Alek (2021–2025), GLAUx: The Greek Language Automated corpus, https://github.com/alekkeersmaekers/glaux
7. ^ a b c d e f Diggle, James, et al., eds. (2021), The Cambridge Greek Lexicon, Cambridge: Cambridge University Press
8. ^ a b c 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
9. ^ a b Ινστιτούτο Νεοελληνικών Σπουδών (Ίδρυμα Μανόλη Τριανταφυλλίδη) (1998), Λεξικό της κοινής νεοελληνικής, Thessaloniki: Aristotle University of Thessaloniki