Etymologically
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ἕρπω

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Pronunciation

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

Forms

ἕρπω (hérpō) [1]

Etymology

It is inherited from Proto-Indo-European *serp- (“to crawl, sneak”), a thematic present with full grade, *sérp-e-.[2][3][1] The Greek verb is identical with Sanskrit सर्पति (sárpati, “crawls, glides, goes”) and Latin serpō (“to creep, crawl”).[2][4][5] Several languages made a name for the snake from the same root, independently of one another: सर्प (sarpá-), serpēns and Albanian gjarpër.[2][4] The Aeolic noun ὄρπετον (órpeton) shows the zero grade, as does the Sanskrit thematic aorist.[4][5] Chantraine adds that the root may be an enlargement in -p- of *ser-.[5]

Earliest recorded meaning

In the Iliad it is said of everything that breathes and moves on the earth, and the Odyssey sets it against sitting still.[6][7] In a portent of the Odyssey the hides of the slaughtered cattle crawl.[8][6]

Semantic evolution

The first sense was to crawl or creep; from it grew an expressive, popular word for simply “to go”.[4][5] In the Doric dialects it became the ordinary verb for going, as in an inscription from Epidaurus, and tragedy often uses it the same way.[6][2] Chantraine thinks the shift was helped by the contrast with flying.[5] Poets also used it of things that steal on or spread: envy creeping towards the fortunate, youth moving on, a tear stealing from the eye.[6][8]

The Septuagint uses it for creeping animals in the creation story of Genesis.[9] Its derivatives named the creeping animal ἑρπετόν (herpetón) and the spreading skin sore ἕρπης (hérpēs).[4][5] Modern Greek έρπω (érpo) is a learned word taken from the ancient verb, in the sense of the noun ερπετό (erpetó, “reptile”).[10][11]

Timeline

  • Homer – The Iliad uses it of creatures that move on the earth.[6][12]
  • 7th century BC – Alcman uses it of skill on the lyre advancing against the sword.[6][13]
  • 5th century BC – Sophocles and Euripides use it to mean simply “go, come”.[6][8][13]
  • 4th century BC – An inscription from Epidaurus uses it of going into the sanctuary.[6]
  • 3rd century BC – Theocritus has the Doric future ἑρψῶ.[6][8][13]
  • 3rd–2nd century BC – The Septuagint uses it of creeping animals in Genesis.[9]
  • Modern Greek – The learned verb Modern Greek έρπω (érpo) means “to crawl”.[10][11]

Meanings

Verb

  1. To crawl, creep, move slowly; of living creatures, to move about.[6][8]
  2. (Doric, tragedy) To go, come, proceed.[6][8]
  3. (of things and events) To steal on, spread, advance.[6]

Word family

  • ἀνέρπω (anérpō)
  • ἀφέρπω (aphérpō)
  • διέρπω (diérpō)
  • εἰσέρπω (eisérpō)
  • ἐξέρπω (exérpō)
  • ἐφέρπω (ephérpō)
  • καθέρπω (kathérpō)
  • παρέρπω (parérpō)
  • προσέρπω (prosérpō)
  • ὑφέρπω (huphérpō)
  • περιέρπω (periérpō)
  • προέρπω (proérpō)
  • ἑρπετόν (herpetón)
  • ἑρπηδών (herpēdṓn)
  • ἕρπηλα (hérpēla)
  • ἕρπης (hérpēs)
  • ἑρπύζω (herpúzō)
  • ἕρψις (hérpsis)
  • Latin serpō
  • Latin serpēns

References

  1. ^ a b c d e Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
  2. ^ a b c d 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. ^ Rix, Helmut, et al. (2001), Lexikon der indogermanischen Verben, 2nd ed., Wiesbaden: Reichert
  4. ^ a b c d e Frisk, Hjalmar (1960–1972), Griechisches etymologisches Wörterbuch, 3 vols, Heidelberg: Carl Winter
  5. ^ a b c d e f 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 c d e f g h i j k l Liddell, Henry George; Scott, Robert; Jones, Henry Stuart (1940), A Greek-English Lexicon, 9th ed., Oxford: Clarendon Press
  7. ^ Cunliffe, Richard John (1924), A Lexicon of the Homeric Dialect, London: Blackie and Son
  8. ^ a b c d e f Diggle, James, et al., eds. (2021), The Cambridge Greek Lexicon, Cambridge: Cambridge University Press
  9. ^ a b Lust, Johan; Eynikel, Erik; Hauspie, Katrin (2003), Greek-English Lexicon of the Septuagint, rev. ed., Stuttgart: Deutsche Bibelgesellschaft
  10. ^ a b Ινστιτούτο Νεοελληνικών Σπουδών (Ίδρυμα Μανόλη Τριανταφυλλίδη) (1998), Λεξικό της κοινής νεοελληνικής, Thessaloniki: Aristotle University of Thessaloniki
  11. ^ a b Babiniotis, Georgios (2010), Ετυμολογικό λεξικό της νέας ελληνικής γλώσσας [Etymological Dictionary of Modern Greek], Athens: Κέντρο Λεξικολογίας
  12. ^ Keersmaekers, Alek (2021–2025), GLAUx: The Greek Language Automated corpus, https://github.com/alekkeersmaekers/glaux
  13. ^ a b c Rodríguez Adrados, Francisco, et al., eds. (1980–), Diccionario Griego-Español, Madrid: CSIC, http://dge.cchs.csic.es/xdge