λείπω

Pronunciation

• IPA (5th-century BC Attic): /lěː.pɔː/^[1]
• IPA (4th-century AD Koine): /ˈli.po/^[1]
• IPA (10th-century Byzantine): /ˈli.po/^[1]

Forms

λείπω (leípō) ^[1]

Etymology

It is from Proto-Indo-European *leykʷ- (“to leave behind”).^[2][1][3] The thematic root aorist ἔλιπον (élipon) matches Old Armenian elikʿ (elikʿ) and Sanskrit अरिचत् (áricat), from ⟨*h₁é-likʷ-e-t⟩ “he left”; the perfect λέλοιπα (léloipa) matches Sanskrit रिरेच (riréca) and Latin līquī; and the nasal present ⟨λιμπάνω⟩ resembles Old Armenian լքանեմ (lkʿanem) and Latin linquō.^[2][4][3] The present λείπω itself corresponds to Gothic 𐌻𐌴𐌹𐍈𐌰𐌽 (leihwan, “to lend”) and Lithuanian liekù (“to leave”).^[2][4]

Earliest recorded meaning

In Homer it is to leave behind, to leave a place, and of the spirit to leave the body at death.^[5][6] a prophecy in the Iliad speaks of “leaving the light of the sun” at the hands of the Trojans, that is, dying.^[5][6][7]

Semantic evolution

Its senses fall into groups: to leave behind or abandon (of a soldier, to desert one's post); to leave remaining, and in the passive to be left, survive, or be outrun; and to leave out, fall short, be lacking.^[6][1][5] In the middle and passive it also means to be inferior.^[8][5]

In the New Testament it means “to lack”: “one thing you still lack”, Jesus tells the rich man, and James speaks of those who lack wisdom.^[8] Spicq notes that the papyri use it for a deficit in accounts.^[8][9] Derivatives include λοιπός (loipós, “remaining”), λείψανον (leípsanon, “remains”) and, from the compound ἐκλείπω, ἔκλειψις (ékleipsis, “eclipse”).^[2][4] Medieval Greek has it as λείπω and λείβγω, and in Modern Greek λείπω (lípo) means to be absent or missing, and “I miss you” is μου λείπεις.^[10][11]

Timeline

• Homer – It is used for leaving people, places and life.^[5][7]
• 5th century BC – Herodotus uses it for falling short, being inferior.^[8]
• 5th–4th century BC – Plato uses it of a soldier deserting his post.^[6]
• 1st century AD – The New Testament uses it for lacking.^[8][9]
• 12th–17th century – Vernacular Greek has λείπω and λείβγω.^[10]

Meanings

Verb

1. To leave, leave behind; to depart from a place.^[6][1]
2. To forsake, abandon, desert.^[6][1]
3. (of the dying) To leave life, or (of the spirit) to leave the body.^[6][5]
4. To leave behind at death, as children or glory.^[6]
5. (passive) To be left, remain, survive; to be outdistanced.^[6][1]
6. (intransitive) To be lacking, fail, fall short.^[1][8]
7. (middle and passive) To be inferior; to lack something.^[8][5]

Word family

• ἀπολείπω (apoleípō)
• διαλείπω (dialeípō)
• ἐκλείπω (ekleípō)
• ἐλλείπω (elleípō)
• ἐπιλείπω (epileípō)
• καταλείπω (kataleípō)
• λιπόναυς (lipónaus)
• λιπόξυλος (lipóxulos)
• λιποπάτωρ (lipopátōr)
• λιποπνόη (lipopnóē)
• λιποστράτιον (lipostrátion)
• λιπότεκνος (lipóteknos)
• λίπουρος (lípouros)
• παραλείπω (paraleípō)

Related words

• ἄλειπτος (áleiptos)
• λεῖμμα (leîmma)
• λειπογνώμων (leipognṓmōn)
• λειπτέον (leiptéon)
• λείψανον (leípsanon)
• λεῖψις (leîpsis)
• λοιπός (loipós)
• ἔκλειψις (ékleipsis)
• ἔλλειψις (élleipsis)
• Latin linquo

References

1. ^ a b c d e f g h i j Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
2. ^ a b c d 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 Rix, Helmut, et al. (2001), Lexikon der indogermanischen Verben, 2nd ed., Wiesbaden: Reichert
4. ^ a b c Frisk, Hjalmar (1960–1972), Griechisches etymologisches Wörterbuch, 3 vols, Heidelberg: Carl Winter
5. ^ a b c d e f g Liddell, Henry George; Scott, Robert; Jones, Henry Stuart (1940), A Greek-English Lexicon, 9th ed., Oxford: Clarendon Press
6. ^ a b c d e f g h i Diggle, James, et al., eds. (2021), The Cambridge Greek Lexicon, Cambridge: Cambridge University Press
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 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 Spicq, Ceslas (1994), Theological Lexicon of the New Testament, tr. James D. Ernest, 3 vols, Peabody, Mass.: Hendrickson
10. ^ a b Kriaras, Emmanuel, Επιτομή του Λεξικού της μεσαιωνικής ελληνικής δημώδους γραμματείας 1100–1669, Κέντρο Ελληνικής Γλώσσας, https://www.greek-language.gr
11. ^ Ινστιτούτο Νεοελληνικών Σπουδών (Ίδρυμα Μανόλη Τριανταφυλλίδη) (1998), Λεξικό της κοινής νεοελληνικής, Thessaloniki: Aristotle University of Thessaloniki