ἐρείπω

Forms

ἐρείπω (ereípō) ^[1]

Etymology

It is inherited from Proto-Indo-European *h₁reyp- (“to tear down”),^[1][2] a full-grade present.^[3] Beside it stand Old Norse rífa (“to tear down”), which is also used of buildings, and, as a verbal noun, Latin rīpa (“steep bank, shore”); compare ἐρίπνη (erípnē) “cliff”.^[3][4][1] Beekes and Chantraine mention but do not adopt the analysis of Proto-Indo-European *h₁rei- with a suffix -p- beside the -k- of ἐρείκω (ereíkō).^[3][4]

Earliest recorded meaning

In the Iliad the aorist ἤριπον (ḗripon) is used of warriors who collapse in battle, and the active of pulling down battlements.^[5][6][7]

Semantic evolution

In the active it means to throw down walls and cities, in Homer, Herodotus, Xenophon and tragedy, and Plutarch uses it of an earthquake bringing down houses.^[6][8] Sophocles uses it figuratively of a god bringing a family low, and Bacchylides of rulers ruining their people.^[6] The intransitive aorist, “to fall”, is used of persons, animals and trees from Homer and Hesiod on, and of a star falling into the sea in Theocritus.^[6][8]

From it came ἐρείπιον (ereípion), in the plural “ruins”;^[1] Modern Greek ερείπιο (erípio) “ruin” is a learned form of that noun.^[9]

Timeline

• Homer – The Iliad uses it of falling warriors and of pulling down battlements.^[5][6]
• Before the 6th century BC – Hesiod uses it of collapse.^[6][7]
• 6th–5th century BC – Pindar uses the passive of a man laid low.^[6][10]
• 5th century BC – Herodotus uses it of demolishing walls.^[6][10]
• 1st–2nd century AD – Plutarch uses it of an earthquake throwing down houses.^[6][10]

Meanings

Verb

1. To throw down, demolish, lay in ruins walls or a city; passive, to be demolished.^[6][8]
2. (figurative) To strike down, ruin a family or a people.^[6]
3. (intransitive, aorist) To fall, collapse.^[6][5]
4. (passive) Of a person, to be laid low, to fall in battle.^[6]

Word family

• ἀνερείπομαι (anereípomai)
• ἐξερείπω (exereípō)
• κατερείπω (katereípō)
• συνερείπω (sunereípō)

Related words

• ἐρείπιον (ereípion)
• ἐρείψιμος (ereípsimos)
• ἔρειψις (éreipsis)
• ἐρίπνη (erípnē)

References

1. ^ a b c d e f g Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
2. ^ Rix, Helmut, et al. (2001), Lexikon der indogermanischen Verben, 2nd ed., Wiesbaden: Reichert
3. ^ a b c 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
4. ^ a b 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
5. ^ a b c Cunliffe, Richard John (1924), A Lexicon of the Homeric Dialect, London: Blackie and Son
6. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m Diggle, James, et al., eds. (2021), The Cambridge Greek Lexicon, Cambridge: Cambridge University Press
7. ^ a b Keersmaekers, Alek (2021–2025), GLAUx: The Greek Language Automated corpus, https://github.com/alekkeersmaekers/glaux
8. ^ a b c Liddell, Henry George; Scott, Robert; Jones, Henry Stuart (1940), A Greek-English Lexicon, 9th ed., Oxford: Clarendon Press
9. ^ Ινστιτούτο Νεοελληνικών Σπουδών (Ίδρυμα Μανόλη Τριανταφυλλίδη) (1998), Λεξικό της κοινής νεοελληνικής, Thessaloniki: Aristotle University of Thessaloniki
10. ^ a b c Rodríguez Adrados, Francisco, et al., eds. (1980–), Diccionario Griego-Español, Madrid: CSIC, http://dge.cchs.csic.es/xdge