ripa

Pronunciation

• IPA (Classical): [ˈriː.pa]^[1]
• IPA (Ecclesiastical): [ˈriː.pa]^[1]

Forms

rīpa f (genitive rīpae); first declension^[1]

Etymology

It is inherited from Proto-Italic *reipā-, inherited from Proto-Indo-European *h₁reip-h₂- (“steep slope”).^[2][1] The OLD gives the connection as possible.^[3]

Cognate with Ancient Greek ἐρίπνη (erípnē, “steep slope, cliff”), ἐρείπω (ereípō, “to throw down”) and Old Norse rífa (“to tear down”).^[2][3][4]

Earliest recorded meaning

It is found from Plautus onwards,^[2][5] and Ennius uses it of a river bank.^[6][5]

Semantic evolution

It meant the bank of a river or stream, as in Caesar, and in poetry also the seashore, as in Horace.^[3][7] Plautus used it figuratively.^[7]

Medieval Latin used it for a rock face or mountain slope,^[8] and British writers also for an embankment or dyke and the slope of a hill.^[9] It survives as Italian ripa and riva, French rive, Spanish and Portuguese riba, and Romanian râpă, and Spanish arriba “up” is also from it.^[1] English river came through Anglo-French from a derivative of it in the early 13th century.^[10]

Timeline

• c. 250–184 BC – Plautus uses it.^[2][5]
• 204–169 BC – Ennius uses it of a river bank.^[6][5]
• c. 50 BC – Caesar uses it of the banks of rivers.^[7][5]
• 65–8 BC – Horace uses it of the seashore.^[7][5]
• early 13th century – English river is first recorded.^[10]

Meanings

Noun

1. The bank of a river.^[3][6]
2. (poetic) The shore (of the sea).^[7][1]
3. (Medieval Latin) A rock face, slope.^[8]
4. (Medieval Latin) An embankment, dyke.^[9]

Word family

• rīpārius
• rīpēnsis
• rīpula
• adrīpō

Related words

• English river
• English riparian
• English arrive

Usage notes

Döderlein and Lewis and Short distinguish ripa, the bank of a river, from litus and ora, the shore of the sea.^[11][6]

References

1. ^ a b c d e f Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
2. ^ a b c d de Vaan, Michiel (2008), Etymological Dictionary of Latin and the other Italic Languages, Leiden Indo-European Etymological Dictionary Series 7, Leiden; Boston: Brill
3. ^ a b c d Glare, P. G. W., ed. (2012), Oxford Latin Dictionary, 2nd ed., Oxford: Oxford University Press
4. ^ Georges, Karl Ernst (1913–1918), Ausführliches lateinisch-deutsches Handwörterbuch, 8th ed., ed. Heinrich Georges, Hannover; Leipzig: Hahn
5. ^ a b c d e f Köbler, Gerhard (2010), Lateinisches Abkunfts- und Wirkungswörterbuch für Altertum und Mittelalter, online ed., koeblergerhard.de
6. ^ a b c d Lewis, Charlton T.; Short, Charles (1879), A Latin Dictionary, Oxford: Clarendon Press
7. ^ a b c d e Gaffiot, Félix (2016), Dictionnaire latin-français, new ed. by Gérard Gréco et al. (Gaffiot 2016), online ed.
8. ^ a b Niermeyer, J. F. (1976), Mediae Latinitatis Lexicon Minus, Leiden: Brill
9. ^ a b Latham, R. E., D. R. Howlett, R. K. Ashdowne, et al. (1975–2013), Dictionary of Medieval Latin from British Sources, London: British Academy / Oxford University Press
10. ^ a b Harper, Douglas. Online Etymology Dictionary, https://www.etymonline.com
11. ^ Döderlein, Ludwig (1874), Döderlein’s Hand-book of Latin Synonymes, tr. H. H. Arnold, Andover: W. F. Draper