ῥέπω

Forms

ῥέπω (rhépō) ^[1] Future ῥέψω (rhépsō) (Herodotus), aorist ἔρρεψα (érrhepsa) (Hippocratic writers, Plato); mostly used in the present and imperfect.^[2][3]

Etymology

The origin is unknown.^[4][1] It has been connected with ῥάπτω (rháptō, “to sew”) and ῥαπίζω (rhapízō) through a supposed common meaning “to twist, bend”, sought in ῥόπαλον (rhópalon) and ῥόπτρον (rhóptron), but Beekes doubts that those words belong here and finds the needed meaning unwarranted.^[4] The comparison with Lithuanian ver̃pti (“to spin”) is probably wrong.^[1] LIV lists a doubtful root Proto-Indo-European *wrep- (“to lean”).^[5] Beekes suggests that the word may be Pre-Greek.^[4]

Earliest recorded meaning

In the Iliad (8.72) Zeus weighs the fates in his golden scales and the day of doom of the Achaeans sinks; at 22.212 the scale of Hector sinks in the same way.^[2][3]

Semantic evolution

From the sinking scale it came to mean “incline one way or the other”, of an ever-shifting thing in Pindar and of sleep falling on the eyes.^[2] Of one of two sides it meant “to prevail, turn the scale”: Herodotus says that the outcome would go whichever way the Athenians turned.^[2][3] Aeschylus and Xenophon use it of a god or man inclining in someone's favour, and Isocrates, Plato and Demosthenes of people inclining towards something.^[3] Its derivatives include ῥοπή (rhopḗ, “tilting of the scales”) and ἀντίρροπος (antírrhopos, “counterbalancing”).^[4]

Medieval Greek used it for “to lean, favour, take the side of”.^[6] In Modern Greek ρέπω (répo) is a learned verb, used only in the present, for having a tendency, usually towards something bad.^[7]

Timeline

• Homer – The Iliad uses it of a fate sinking in the scales of Zeus.^[2][3]
• 6th–5th century BC – Pindar uses it of what is ever shifting and of sleep falling on the eyes.^[2][8]
• 5th century BC – Herodotus uses it of a side that prevails.^[2][3][8]
• 5th–4th century BC – Plato and Isocrates use it of people inclining towards something.^[3][8]
• Modern Greek – ρέπω (répo) means “to be prone to” something.^[7]

Meanings

Verb

1. Of a scale or what is weighed, to sink, turn the scale.^[2][3]
2. To Incline one way or the other, tilt.^[2][3]
3. To Prevail, preponderate, have the greater weight.^[2][3]
4. Of a god or person, to incline in someone's favour.^[3]
5. Of people, to be inclined or prone towards something.^[3][7]

Word family

• ῥοπή (rhopḗ)
• ἀντίρροπος (antírrhopos)
• ἐπιρρεπής (epirrhepḗs)

References

1. ^ a b c d e f Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
2. ^ a b c d e f g h i j Liddell, Henry George; Scott, Robert; Jones, Henry Stuart (1940), A Greek-English Lexicon, 9th ed., Oxford: Clarendon Press
3. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l Diggle, James, et al., eds. (2021), The Cambridge Greek Lexicon, Cambridge: Cambridge University Press
4. ^ 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
5. ^ Rix, Helmut, et al. (2001), Lexikon der indogermanischen Verben, 2nd ed., Wiesbaden: Reichert
6. ^ Kriaras, Emmanuel, Επιτομή του Λεξικού της μεσαιωνικής ελληνικής δημώδους γραμματείας 1100–1669, Κέντρο Ελληνικής Γλώσσας, https://www.greek-language.gr
7. ^ a b c Ινστιτούτο Νεοελληνικών Σπουδών (Ίδρυμα Μανόλη Τριανταφυλλίδη) (1998), Λεξικό της κοινής νεοελληνικής, Thessaloniki: Aristotle University of Thessaloniki
8. ^ a b c Rodríguez Adrados, Francisco, et al., eds. (1980–), Diccionario Griego-Español, Madrid: CSIC, http://dge.cchs.csic.es/xdge