τάπης

Forms

τᾰ́πης (tápēs) m (genitive τᾰ́πητος); third declension^[1]

Etymology

Beekes considers it Pre-Greek, because of its many variant forms: later τάπις (tápis), δάπις (dápis) with an initial /d/, and τάβης (tábēs).^[2][3] The interchange of /t/ and /d/ and the suffix -ητ- are features of Pre-Greek words in his catalogue.^[3] Its formation is like that of λέβης (lébēs) and other names of utensils of debated origin.^[2][4]

The traditional explanation makes it an Oriental loanword, from Iranian: Schrader compared the Modern Persian verb for “to turn, spin”, and Frisk traces that verb to an Indo-European root also found in Lithuanian tem̃pti (“to stretch”).^[4][2] Wiktionary compares Persian تنبسه (tanbase, “carpet, rug”), but follows Beekes in doubting the Iranian link.^[1] The compound ἀμφίταπος (amphítapos) shows the stem without the suffix.^[2][5]

Ancient grammarians proposed fanciful derivations: from πατέω (patéō, “to tread”), since a carpet is trodden on, from θάλπω (thálpō, “to warm”) or from θάπτω (tháptō, “to bury”).^[6][7]

Earliest recorded meaning

In Homer it is a rug or blanket of soft wool, used as bedding or spread over seats: Achilles seats his guests on chairs covered with purple rugs.^[8][9]

Semantic evolution

After Homer it stays a rug or coverlet for a bed or seat, in Theognis, Aristophanes and Theocritus.^[10] In Aristophanes' Plutus Poverty boasts that the poor have a rush mat instead of a rug.^[9] Later Attic used the forms τάπις (tápis) and δάπις (dápis).^[9][5] Late papyri name a carpet merchant, ταπητέμπορος (tapētémporos), and weavers of carpets, and the Edict of Diocletian lists Egyptian and African carpets.^[5][9]

Latin borrowed the word as Latin tapēte, whence Italian tappeto, Old High German teppīh and German Tapete.^[2][11] Modern Greek τάπητας (tápitas) is a learned revival, influenced by French tapis: a carpet, also any layer covering a surface, such as a road's asphalt, and in the phrase “to put a matter on the carpet”, to bring it up for final discussion.^[12][13]

Timeline

• Homer – The Iliad and the Odyssey use it for rugs and blankets on beds and seats.^[8][14]
• 6th century BC – Theognis uses it.^[10][14][15]
• 5th–4th century BC – Aristophanes contrasts a rug with a poor man's mat.^[9][15]
• 4th century BC – An inscription from Cos records it.^[9][2]
• 4th century AD – Papyri name a carpet merchant, ταπητέμπορος (tapētémporos).^[5]
• Modern Greek – Modern Greek τάπητας (tápitas) is a learned word for a carpet.^[12]

Meanings

Noun

1. A rug, carpet or blanket, spread on a bed or a seat; a coverlet.^[9][10]

Related words

• Latin tapēte

Usage notes

Eustathius notes that Homer seems to distinguish carpets from mattresses and blankets, and doubts the usual derivation from “being trodden on”.^[6]

References

1. ^ a b 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 Beekes, Robert S. P. (2014), Pre-Greek: Phonology, Morphology, Lexicon, ed. Stefan Norbruis, Leiden; Boston: Brill
4. ^ a b Frisk, Hjalmar (1960–1972), Griechisches etymologisches Wörterbuch, 3 vols, Heidelberg: Carl Winter
5. ^ a b c d 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 Etygram: ancient etymologies of Greek words, CEPAM, Université Côte d'Azur, http://appsweb-cepam.unice.fr/etygram
7. ^ Gaisford, Thomas, ed. (1848), Etymologicum Magnum, Oxford: Oxford University Press
8. ^ a b Cunliffe, Richard John (1924), A Lexicon of the Homeric Dialect, London: Blackie and Son
9. ^ 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
10. ^ a b c Diggle, James, et al., eds. (2021), The Cambridge Greek Lexicon, Cambridge: Cambridge University Press
11. ^ Saalfeld, Günther Alexander (1874), Index Graecorum vocabulorum in linguam latinam translatorum, Berlin: Weidmann
12. ^ a b Ινστιτούτο Νεοελληνικών Σπουδών (Ίδρυμα Μανόλη Τριανταφυλλίδη) (1998), Λεξικό της κοινής νεοελληνικής, Thessaloniki: Aristotle University of Thessaloniki
13. ^ Babiniotis, Georgios (2010), Ετυμολογικό λεξικό της νέας ελληνικής γλώσσας [Etymological Dictionary of Modern Greek], Athens: Κέντρο Λεξικολογίας
14. ^ a b Keersmaekers, Alek (2021–2025), GLAUx: The Greek Language Automated corpus, https://github.com/alekkeersmaekers/glaux
15. ^ a b Rodríguez Adrados, Francisco, et al., eds. (1980–), Diccionario Griego-Español, Madrid: CSIC, http://dge.cchs.csic.es/xdge