λεπτός

Forms

λεπτός (leptós) m (feminine λεπτή, neuter λεπτόν); first/second declension^[1] Linear B spelling: Mycenaean Greek re-po-to, read /leptos/.^[2][3]

Etymology

It is the verbal adjective from Ancient Greek λέπω (lépō, “to peel”), with the suffix -τός (-tós), formed like στρεπτός (streptós); its first sense was therefore “peeled”.^[2][1][4]

The verb has no direct correspondent in any other language.^[2][5] Some nominal forms look similar, such as Lithuanian lãpas (“leaf”) and Albanian lapë (“rag, leaf”), but Beekes finds neither the forms nor the meanings convincing and judges the verb non-Indo-European, a word of the Pre-Greek substrate, pointing to related words with suffixes and alternations of Pre-Greek type, such as λέπρα (lépra) and λῶπος (lôpos).^[2][5] Chantraine rejects the comparison with Latin lepōs (“grace”) and calls Pokorny's other comparisons doubtful.^[5]

Earliest recorded meaning

It is already on the Mycenaean tablets, spelled Mycenaean Greek re-po-to.^[2][3] In Homer the literal sense, “husked”, appears once, of barley being threshed in the Iliad.^[4][6] Otherwise Homer uses it for what is fine and thin: fine dust, delicate fabrics, a spider's web, a thin cord, a narrow entrance, and figuratively for weak counsel.^[4][6]

Semantic evolution

From “fine” and “thin” the word took several directions.^[4] Of the body it meant thin or lean, already of a hand in Hesiod, and in comedy of half-starved sophists.^[4][6] Of size and strength it meant small or slight: Herodotus calls sheep and goats “small cattle” and uses it of small boats, and Aeschylus of a gnat's light wingbeats.^[4] Hippocratic medicine called thin liquids and a light diet λεπτός, and Aristotle used it for matter made of fine parts.^[4] Figuratively it meant subtle or refined, of the mind in Euripides and of arguments in Aristophanes; it was also used of a fine, delicate voice.^[4] Polybius calls the poor οἱ λεπτοί.^[4]

The neuter λεπτόν named the small intestine in the Hippocratic writings and, in the New Testament, the smallest copper coin, the widow's “mite”.^[4][7] Medieval vernacular Greek also had the forms λεφθός (lefthós) and λεφτός (leftós), and the neuter plural of the latter is today's Modern Greek λεφτά (leftá) “money”.^[8][9] The adjective itself, λεπτός (leptós), is a learned word in Modern Greek.^[9][1]

Timeline

• Mycenaean period – The adjective appears on the Linear B tablets as Mycenaean Greek re-po-to.^[2][3]
• Homer – The Iliad uses it of husked barley, fine dust and delicate fabrics.^[4][6]
• Before the 6th century BC – Hesiod uses it of a thin, wasted hand.^[4][6]
• 5th century BC – Herodotus uses it of sheep and goats, the “small cattle”, and of small craft.^[4]
• 5th century BC – Euripides uses it of a subtle mind.^[4]
• 4th century BC – Aristotle uses it of matter made of fine parts and of a delicate voice.^[4]
• 2nd century BC – Polybius calls the poor οἱ λεπτοί.^[4]
• 1100–1669 – The vernacular forms λεφθός (lefthós) and λεφτός (leftós) appear.^[8]
• Modern Greek – λεπτός (leptós) survives as a learned word, and λεφτά (leftá) means money.^[9][8]

Meanings

Adjective

1. (rare, literal) Peeled, husked, of grain.^[4][6]
2. Consisting of small particles, fine, of dust, ashes or salt; of soil, light.^[4][6]
3. Thin, fine, delicate, of fabrics, threads, webs or sheets of metal.^[4][6]
4. Of people and animals, thin, lean.^[4][6]
5. Of space, narrow; drawn up in a thin line.^[4][6]
6. Small, weak, slight; of animals and boats, small.^[4]
7. Of breezes, light.^[4]
8. Of liquids, thin; of wine or a diet, light.^[4]
9. Consisting of fine parts.^[4]
10. (figurative) subtle, refined, delicate, of the mind or of arguments.^[4][6]
11. Of the voice or of sound, fine, delicate.^[4]
12. Of persons, poor; οἱ λεπτοί the poor.^[4]
13. (as a neuter noun, λεπτόν, medicine) The small intestine.^[4]
14. (as a neuter noun, λεπτόν, New Testament) A small copper coin, the mite.^[7]

Word family

• λεπταλέος (leptaléos)
• λεπτόγεως (leptógeōs)
• λεπτόδομος (leptódomos)
• λεπτόλιθος (leptólithos)
• λεπτόμιτος (leptómitos)
• λεπτόν (leptón)
• λεπτόπρυμνος (leptóprumnos)
• λεπτότης (leptótēs)
• λεπτοψάμαθος (leptopsámathos)
• ἡμίλεπτος (hēmíleptos)
• λεπτίον (leptíon)
• λεπτύνω (leptú̄nō)

Related words

• λέπω (lépō)
• λέπρα (lépra)
• λεπίς (lepís)

References

1. ^ a b c d e f Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
2. ^ a b c d e f 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 c Babiniotis, Georgios (2010), Ετυμολογικό λεξικό της νέας ελληνικής γλώσσας [Etymological Dictionary of Modern Greek], Athens: Κέντρο Λεξικολογίας
4. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m n o p q r s t u v w x y z 27 28 29 Liddell, Henry George; Scott, Robert; Jones, Henry Stuart (1940), A Greek-English Lexicon, 9th ed., Oxford: Clarendon Press
5. ^ 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
6. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k Diggle, James, et al., eds. (2021), The Cambridge Greek Lexicon, Cambridge: Cambridge University Press
7. ^ 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
8. ^ a b c Kriaras, Emmanuel, Επιτομή του Λεξικού της μεσαιωνικής ελληνικής δημώδους γραμματείας 1100–1669, Κέντρο Ελληνικής Γλώσσας, https://www.greek-language.gr
9. ^ a b c Ινστιτούτο Νεοελληνικών Σπουδών (Ίδρυμα Μανόλη Τριανταφυλλίδη) (1998), Λεξικό της κοινής νεοελληνικής, Thessaloniki: Aristotle University of Thessaloniki