λέπω

Forms

λέπω (lépō) ^[1]

Etymology

Beekes considers it non-Indo-European and Pre-Greek: the present λέπω, on which all its verbal forms are built, has no direct match outside Greek, and the related nouns have suffixes and alternations of Pre-Greek appearance.^[2][3][4] The zero-grade forms λέλαμμαι (lélammai) and -λαπῆναι (-lapênai) are probably new formations after ἔστραμμαι (éstrammai) and στραφῆναι (straphênai).^[2][5]

The LIV sets up a root Proto-Indo-European *lep- (“to peel”), but notes that the verb is found only in Greek.^[6] The comparisons that have been made are nominal: Lithuanian lãpas (“leaf”) and Albanian lapë (“rag, leaf”) beside λοπός (lopós, “husk”), Lithuanian lõpas (“rag, patch”) beside λῶπος (lôpos, “cloak”), and Russian лапоть (lápotʹ, “bast shoe”), but Beekes finds none of them exact and the meanings unconvincing.^[2][5][1]

Earliest recorded meaning

In the Iliad (1.236) the bronze is said to have “stripped off” the leaves and bark of a piece of wood.^[7][8]

Semantic evolution

The simple verb is rare: it meant to peel, strip off the rind or husk, of onions in Eupolis and of beans in Nicander, and the CGL lists it only in its compounds ἀπολέπω (apolépō), ἐπιλέπω (epilépō) and περιλέπω (perilépō).^[8][9] The comic poets used it for giving someone a hiding, and Antiphanes for eating.^[8][4]

Its family is large: λεπτός (leptós), first “peeled, husked” and then “thin, fine”, already Mycenaean re-po-to; λέπος (lépos, “rind”); λεπίς (lepís, “scale”); and λέπρα (léprā, “leprosy”).^[5][3][1]

Timeline

• Homer – The Iliad uses the aorist ἔλεψε of stripping off leaves and bark.^[7][8]
• 5th century BC – Eupolis uses it of peeling onions.^[8][10]
• 4th century BC – An Attic inscription has the perfect participle λελαμμένος, of a peeled reed.^[8][4]

Meanings

Verb

1. To strip off the rind or husk, peel, bark.^[8][7]
2. (comedy) To give someone a hiding, thrash.^[8]

Word family

• ἀπολέπω (apolépō)
• ἐκλέπω (eklépō)
• ἐπιλέπω (epilépō)
• λεπίς (lepís)
• λεπρός (leprós)
• λεπτός (leptós)
• λοπός (lopós)
• λώπη (lṓpē)
• λῶπος (lôpos)
• περιλέπω (perilépō)
• λέπος (lépos)
• λέπυρον (lépūron)

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. ^ a b 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 c Frisk, Hjalmar (1960–1972), Griechisches etymologisches Wörterbuch, 3 vols, Heidelberg: Carl Winter
6. ^ Rix, Helmut, et al. (2001), Lexikon der indogermanischen Verben, 2nd ed., Wiesbaden: Reichert
7. ^ a b c Cunliffe, Richard John (1924), A Lexicon of the Homeric Dialect, London: Blackie and Son
8. ^ a b c d e f g h Liddell, Henry George; Scott, Robert; Jones, Henry Stuart (1940), A Greek-English Lexicon, 9th ed., Oxford: Clarendon Press
9. ^ Diggle, James, et al., eds. (2021), The Cambridge Greek Lexicon, Cambridge: Cambridge University Press
10. ^ Rodríguez Adrados, Francisco, et al., eds. (1980–), Diccionario Griego-Español, Madrid: CSIC, http://dge.cchs.csic.es/xdge