κύπτω

Forms

κύπτω (kúptō) ^[1]

Etymology

It is probably inherited from Proto-Indo-European *kewbʰ- (“to bow, cower”), with a zero-grade yod-present and a sigmatic aorist ἔκυψα (ékupsa), as LIV reconstructs it.^[2] It belongs with κυφός (kuphós) “bent forward, hunchbacked”, which, being isolated in its formation, may preserve the original root shape.^[3][4][5] That adjective is compared with Sanskrit कुब्ज (kubjá, “humpbacked”) and Sanskrit कुभ्र (kubhrá, “humpbacked bull”), for which a Munda origin has also been claimed, and words with a final -p- such as Lithuanian kuprà (“hump”) and Old High German hovar (“hump”).^[3][5][4]

Beekes takes the variation of ⟨κυφ-⟩ and ⟨κυπ-⟩ as a sign of a Pre-Greek word.^[3] The ancient Etymologicum Parvum derived it from γυῖον (guîon) “limb”.^[6]

Earliest recorded meaning

Homer has only the aorist, for stooping or bending down: a warrior's side is laid bare as he stoops, and in the Odyssey an old man stoops again and again.^[7][8]

Semantic evolution

In Classical Greek it is to bend down or stoop, also to pass through a low door, and to bow the head: from shame in Aristophanes (“why are you hanging your head?”), from grief, or to avoid someone's eyes.^[9][8] Demosthenes uses it of being bowed down under a burden, and Aristotle of animals bent forward, as opposed to man's upright figure.^[8] Archilochus has the aorist in the sense “to hang oneself”.^[8] In the New Testament it is to bend down, also with “down to the ground”.^[10]

The medieval form σκύπτω, with a prefixed σ-, gave Modern Greek σκύβω (skívo) “to stoop”.^[11][12] Compounds such as ανακύπτω and εγκύπτω survive in the learned language.^[12]

Timeline

• Homer – The Iliad and the Odyssey use the aorist for stooping.^[7][8]
• 7th century BC – Archilochus uses the aorist for hanging oneself.^[8][13]
• 5th century BC – Herodotus describes oxen with horns bent forward.^[8][13]
• 5th–4th century BC – Aristophanes uses it of hanging one's head in shame.^[8][9][13]
• 4th century BC – Demosthenes uses it of being bowed down by a burden.^[8][13]
• New Testament – The Gospels use it for stooping down.^[10]
• Modern Greek – The medieval form σκύπτω has become σκύβω.^[11][12]

Meanings

Verb

1. To bend forward, stoop, bend down.^[8][9]
2. To hang one's head, from shame, grief or thought.^[8][9]
3. To bow down under a burden.^[8]
4. Of animals, to be bent forward, as opposed to man's upright stance; of horns, to curve forward.^[8]
5. (aorist) To hang oneself.^[8]

Word family

• ἀνακύπτω (anakúptō)
• ἐγκύπτω (enkúptō)
• συγκύπτω (sunkúptō)
• παρακύπτω (parakúptō)

Related words

• κυφός (kuphós)

References

1. ^ a b c d Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
2. ^ Rix, Helmut, et al. (2001), Lexikon der indogermanischen Verben, 2nd ed., Wiesbaden: Reichert
3. ^ 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
4. ^ a b 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. ^ Etygram: ancient etymologies of Greek words, CEPAM, Université Côte d'Azur, http://appsweb-cepam.unice.fr/etygram
7. ^ a b Cunliffe, Richard John (1924), A Lexicon of the Homeric Dialect, London: Blackie and Son
8. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m n Liddell, Henry George; Scott, Robert; Jones, Henry Stuart (1940), A Greek-English Lexicon, 9th ed., Oxford: Clarendon Press
9. ^ a b c d Diggle, James, et al., eds. (2021), The Cambridge Greek Lexicon, Cambridge: Cambridge University Press
10. ^ 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
11. ^ a b Ινστιτούτο Νεοελληνικών Σπουδών (Ίδρυμα Μανόλη Τριανταφυλλίδη) (1998), Λεξικό της κοινής νεοελληνικής, Thessaloniki: Aristotle University of Thessaloniki
12. ^ a b c Babiniotis, Georgios (2010), Ετυμολογικό λεξικό της νέας ελληνικής γλώσσας [Etymological Dictionary of Modern Greek], Athens: Κέντρο Λεξικολογίας
13. ^ a b c d Rodríguez Adrados, Francisco, et al., eds. (1980–), Diccionario Griego-Español, Madrid: CSIC, http://dge.cchs.csic.es/xdge