πέπων

Forms

πέπων (pépōn) m or f (neuter πέπον); third declension^[1]

Etymology

It is inherited from Proto-Indo-European *pekʷ-on-, a derivative of *pekʷ- (“to cook, ripen”).^[2][3] The verb πεπαίνω (pepaínō, “to ripen”) is a reduplicated formation with the zero grade of the same suffix, and πέσσω (péssō, “to cook, ripen”) is from the same root.^[2][1][4]

Πάπυρος compares Sanskrit पक्व (pakvá, “ripe”).^[5] The feminine πέπειρα (pépeira) follows πίειρα (píeira) beside πίων (píōn).^[6]

Earliest recorded meaning

Homer uses it only in the vocative, πέπον and πέπονες, as a kindly or familiar address: “my good friend”, “gentle brother”, even the Cyclops' “my pet ram”.^[7][8] Once the plural is a reproach, “weaklings”.^[8][6]

Semantic evolution

From Herodotus and Aristophanes on it is the plain word for ripe fruit, “cooked by the sun”, opposed to ὠμός (ōmós, “raw, unripe”), and also used of mellow wine and of ripe abscesses.^[8][6][4] Of persons it could mean soft and mild, or, of women, overripe.^[4][6]

In the Hippocratic writers a “ripe gourd”, σίκυος πέπων, was a kind of melon eaten only when quite ripe, and in the Septuagint πέπων alone is the melon.^[8][6] It was borrowed as Latin pepo, and it survives in Modern Greek πεπόνι (pepóni).^[6]

Timeline

• Homer – The Iliad uses the vocative as an affectionate address.^[7][8]
• 6th century BC – Anacreon uses it of an overripe woman.^[4][9]
• 5th century BC – Herodotus uses it of ripe fruit.^[8][9]
• 5th century BC – The Hippocratic writers use it of the melon.^[8][9]
• 3rd century BC – The Septuagint uses it alone for melons.^[8][6]
• Modern Greek – The word survives as πεπόνι (pepóni).^[6]

Meanings

Adjective

1. (of fruit) Ripe, cooked by the sun.^[8][4]
2. (of wine) Mellow.^[8]
3. (of a person) Ripe for use, or overripe, past one's prime.^[4]
4. (figurative) Soft, mild, gentle.^[4][8]
5. (vocative, Homer) A friendly address: “my good friend”, or, in reproach, “weakling”.^[7][8]

Noun

1. A melon, the ripe gourd.^[8][6]

Word family

• μηλοπέπων (mēlopépōn)
• πέπειρα (pépeira)
• πεπαίνω (pepaínō)

Related words

• πέσσω (péssō)
• Latin pepo

Usage notes

A proverb in the comic poet Theopompus calls someone “softer than a ripe gourd”.^[8]

References

1. ^ a b c d e Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
2. ^ a b 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. ^ Wodtko, Dagmar S.; Irslinger, Britta; Schneider, Carolin (2008), Nomina im indogermanischen Lexikon, Heidelberg: Winter
4. ^ a b c d e f g Diggle, James, et al., eds. (2021), The Cambridge Greek Lexicon, Cambridge: Cambridge University Press
5. ^ Πάπυρος–Larousse–Britannica, Μέγα Λεξικό της Ελληνικής Γλώσσας, Athens: Πάπυρος
6. ^ 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
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 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 Rodríguez Adrados, Francisco, et al., eds. (1980–), Diccionario Griego-Español, Madrid: CSIC, http://dge.cchs.csic.es/xdge