κόλαφος

Forms

κόλᾰφος (kólaphos) m (genitive κολᾰ́φου); second declension^[1]

Etymology

Beekes considers it Pre-Greek, a lowly word with no clear etymology, and takes the verb κολάπτω (koláptō, “to peck, to chisel”) to be its denominative; he points to the suffix it shares with κρόταφος (krótaphos, “temple of the head”).^[2][3] Philoglossa rates the Pre-Greek origin as of medium reliability.^[4] Chantraine and Frisk instead see a back-formation from the verb, Chantraine with an expressive aspirate.^[5][6] Frisk notes that a word of this low register is especially hard to explain.^[5][6][7] Pokorny and Babiniotis put it with Proto-Indo-European *kel- (“to strike, to cut”), the root of κολούω (koloúō, “to dock”) and κλάω (kláō, “to break”).^[8][9] Frisk rejects other proposals, among them a link with κολοφών (kolophṓn), and Rosół lists a comparison with a Hebrew word for a crowbar among the rejected Semitic etymologies.^[6][10]

It was borrowed as Latin colaphus, first in Plautus; through Vulgar Latin colpus it gave Italian colpo and French coup.^[2][6][5]

Earliest recorded meaning

The first record is in Epicharmus, as the name of a physical trainer, called after the blows he gave.^{[5][2][11][9]} An Attic slave woman was likewise named Κολαφίδιον (Kolaphídion), after the blows she received.^[5][6]

Semantic evolution

Hesychius glosses it with κόνδυλος (kóndulos), a blow with the knuckles.^[11][5][12] The New Testament and a papyrus have the denominative κολαφίζω (kolaphízō) “to strike with the fist”.^[5][6]

The word passed into Medieval Greek, and Modern Greek uses the learned κόλαφος (kólafos) for a slap and, after French soufflet and gifle, for a grave affront or a crushing blow to someone's standing.^[7][13][14]

Timeline

• 5th century BC – Epicharmus uses it as the name of a physical trainer.^[9][5]
• 5th century AD (probably) – Hesychius glosses it as a knuckle-blow.^[11]
• Modern Greek – The learned κόλαφος (kólafos) means a slap and, figuratively, a severe blow.^[13][14]

Meanings

Noun

1. A blow with the fist, a buffet; a slap on the face.^{[12][6][5][15]}

Word family

• κολαφίζω (kolaphízō)

Related words

• κολάπτω (koláptō)
• Latin colaphus
• Italian colpo
• French coup

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. ^ Beekes, Robert S. P. (2014), Pre-Greek: Phonology, Morphology, Lexicon, ed. Stefan Norbruis, Leiden; Boston: Brill
4. ^ Scarborough, Matthew (2025), PHILOGLOSSA: database of Pre-Greek and other non-Indo-European words in Ancient Greek, version 1.0
5. ^ a b c d e f g h i 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
6. ^ a b c d e f g Frisk, Hjalmar (1960–1972), Griechisches etymologisches Wörterbuch, 3 vols, Heidelberg: Carl Winter
7. ^ a b Πάπυρος–Larousse–Britannica, Μέγα Λεξικό της Ελληνικής Γλώσσας, Athens: Πάπυρος
8. ^ Pokorny, Julius (1959), Indogermanisches etymologisches Wörterbuch, Bern; Munich: Francke
9. ^ a b c Babiniotis, Georgios (2010), Ετυμολογικό λεξικό της νέας ελληνικής γλώσσας [Etymological Dictionary of Modern Greek], Athens: Κέντρο Λεξικολογίας
10. ^ Rosół, Rafał (2013), Frühe semitische Lehnwörter im Griechischen, Frankfurt am Main: Peter Lang
11. ^ a b c Hesychius of Alexandria, Lexicon, ed. Kurt Latte (Α–Ο, Copenhagen 1953–1966) and Moritz Schmidt (Π–Ω, Jena 1858–1868)
12. ^ a b Liddell, Henry George; Scott, Robert; Jones, Henry Stuart (1940), A Greek-English Lexicon, 9th ed., Oxford: Clarendon Press
13. ^ a b Ινστιτούτο Νεοελληνικών Σπουδών (Ίδρυμα Μανόλη Τριανταφυλλίδη) (1998), Λεξικό της κοινής νεοελληνικής, Thessaloniki: Aristotle University of Thessaloniki
14. ^ a b Ακαδημία Αθηνών (2014), Χρηστικό Λεξικό της Νεοελληνικής Γλώσσας, Athens: Academy of Athens
15. ^ Korinthios, J. (2025), Grande Dizionario Greco Classico: Greco–Italiano, digital ed., Milan: Hoepli