Etymologically
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ἐρείπω

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Pronunciation

  • 5th-century BC Attic: /e.rěː.pɔː/[1]
  • 4th-century AD Koine: /eˈri.po/[1]
  • 10th-century Byzantine: /eˈri.po/[1]

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)
  • 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