ἁρπάζω

Forms

ἁρπάζω (harpázō) ^[1]

Etymology

Beekes and Frisk take it to be a denominative verb from a stem ἁρπαγ- (harpag-), seen in ἅρπαξ (hárpax, “robbery; robber”), ἁρπαγή (harpagḗ, “robbery”) and ἅρπαγος (hárpagos, “hook”).^[2][3] That stem may contain a shorter ἁρπ- (harp-), found in ἅρπη (hárpē, “sickle; a bird of prey”), and the word for the sickle is traced to Proto-Indo-European *serp- (“to cut, prune”), as in Latin sarpō (“to prune”) and Hittite šarpa- (“a farming tool”).^[2][1]

Beekes doubts this: the suffix -αγ- cannot be explained in Indo-European terms and is typical of substrate words, and the zero grade *sr̥p- would have given ῥαπ- (rhap-); he leaves open a Pre-Greek origin.^[2] Wiktionary also mentions a proposed root Proto-Indo-European *h₁rep- (“to snatch”), as in ἐρέπτομαι (eréptomai) and Latin rapiō (“to snatch”), and Nikolaev's explanation of -αγ- from *h₂eǵ- (“to drive”).^[1] A connection with ἅρπυια (hárpuia, “Harpy”) is less likely and may rest on folk etymology.^[2]

Earliest recorded meaning

In Homer it means to snatch up or away: a lion snatches an ox from the herd, a storm wind carries men off to sea.^[4][5][6]

Semantic evolution

Hesiod uses it of plunder, and Herodotus of the abduction of women.^[5][7] In Attic the future is usually the middle ἁρπάσομαι.^[6] Classical writers use it for seizing anything quickly, a spear, the reins, an opportunity or an idea, for arrest and capture, and for robbery and plunder in war.^[7][5] Callimachus and Apollonius use it of a sight that captivates the eyes, Plutarch of a person, and Aeschylus and Aristophanes of fear or anger that overpowers.^[7]

In the Septuagint it is the wild beast carrying off its prey.^[8][9] The New Testament uses it for seizing the kingdom by force and, in the passive, for being caught up and carried away.^[10][9] Latin harpagō “grappling hook” was borrowed from a related noun.^[2][3] Medieval vernacular Greek has Byzantine Greek αρπάζω (arpázo) and αρπάσσω (arpásso),^[11] and Modern Greek αρπάζω (arpázo) still means to snatch or grab, and in the passive to come to blows.^[12]

Timeline

• Homer – The Iliad and the Odyssey use it for snatching up or carrying off.^[4][6]
• Before the 6th century BC – Hesiod uses it of plunder.^[5]
• 5th century BC – Herodotus uses it of carrying off women.^[7]
• 5th century BC – Thucydides uses it of plunder in war.^[7]
• 5th–4th century BC – Aristophanes uses the Attic future middle.^[6]
• 4th–3rd century BC – Callimachus uses it of captivating the eyes.^[7]
• 1st–2nd century AD – Plutarch uses it of captivating a person.^[7]
• Modern Greek – Modern Greek αρπάζω (arpázo) means to snatch or grab.^[12]

Meanings

Verb

1. To snatch up or away, carry off.^[6][7][4]
2. To grab, seize hold of; to arrest; to capture (a place).^[7]
3. Of beasts and birds of prey, winds and waves: to carry off.^[7][5]
4. To abduct, kidnap.^[7]
5. To rob, steal; to plunder.^[7][5]
6. To seize eagerly (an opportunity, an idea).^[7]
7. (figurative) To captivate; of emotions, to overpower.^[7]
8. (New Testament, passive) To be caught up, carried away.^[9][10]

Word family

• ἀναρπάζω (anarpázō)
• ἀφαρπάζω (apharpázō)
• διαρπάζω (diarpázō)
• εἰσαρπάζω (eisarpázō)
• ἐξαρπάζω (exharpázō)
• καθαρπάζω (katharpázō)
• προαρπάζω (proarpázō)
• συναρπάζω (sunarpázō)
• ὑφαρπάζω (hupharpázō)
• ἐφαρπάζω (epharpázō)
• παραρπάζω (pararpázō)
• ὑπεραρπάζομαι (huperarpázomai)
• ἁρπακτήρ (harpaktḗr)
• ἅρπαγμα (hárpagma)
• ἁρπαγμός (harpagmós)

Related words

• ἁρπάγδην (harpágdēn)
• ἁρπάγη (harpágē)
• ἁρπαγή (harpagḗ)
• ἁρπάγιμος (harpágimos)
• ἁρπακτός (harpaktós)
• ἁρπαλέος (harpaléos)
• ἅρπαξ (hárpax)
• ἅρπη (hárpē)
• ἅρπυια (hárpuia)
• Latin harpagō

References

1. ^ a b c d e f Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
2. ^ a b c d e 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 Frisk, Hjalmar (1960–1972), Griechisches etymologisches Wörterbuch, 3 vols, Heidelberg: Carl Winter
4. ^ a b c Cunliffe, Richard John (1924), A Lexicon of the Homeric Dialect, London: Blackie and Son
5. ^ a b c d e f Rodríguez Adrados, Francisco, et al., eds. (1980–), Diccionario Griego-Español, Madrid: CSIC, http://dge.cchs.csic.es/xdge
6. ^ a b c d e Liddell, Henry George; Scott, Robert; Jones, Henry Stuart (1940), A Greek-English Lexicon, 9th ed., Oxford: Clarendon Press
7. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m n Diggle, James, et al., eds. (2021), The Cambridge Greek Lexicon, Cambridge: Cambridge University Press
8. ^ Lust, Johan; Eynikel, Erik; Hauspie, Katrin (2003), Greek-English Lexicon of the Septuagint, rev. ed., Stuttgart: Deutsche Bibelgesellschaft
9. ^ a b c 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
10. ^ a b Abbott-Smith, G. (1922), A Manual Greek Lexicon of the New Testament, Edinburgh: T. & T. Clark
11. ^ Kriaras, Emmanuel, Επιτομή του Λεξικού της μεσαιωνικής ελληνικής δημώδους γραμματείας 1100–1669, Κέντρο Ελληνικής Γλώσσας, https://www.greek-language.gr
12. ^ a b Ινστιτούτο Νεοελληνικών Σπουδών (Ίδρυμα Μανόλη Τριανταφυλλίδη) (1998), Λεξικό της κοινής νεοελληνικής, Thessaloniki: Aristotle University of Thessaloniki