ῥάπτω Ancient Greek · revision 2658

+ {{infobox|confidence=unknown|attested=Mycenaean (Linear B)}}

+

+ ==Pronunciation==

+ * IPA (5th-century BC Attic): /r̥áp.tɔː/^(Wiktionary)

+ * IPA (4th-century AD Koine): /ˈrap.to/^(Wiktionary)

+ * IPA (10th-century Byzantine): /ˈrap.to/^(Wiktionary)

+

+ ==Forms==

+ '''ῥᾰ́πτω''' (rháptō) ^(Wiktionary)

+ [[gmy|e-ra-pe-me-na|t=stitched]].^(Beekes 2010) Perhaps also ''ra-pte'', a “stitcher”.^(Beekes 2010)

+

+ ==Etymology==

+ The origin is unclear.^(Beekes 2010)^(Wiktionary) It used to be compared with [[lt|verpti|alt=ver̃pti|t=to spin]] and other Baltic verbs, from a root [[ine-pro|*werp-]], which LIV still lists with a question mark; but the Mycenaean participle [[gmy|e-ra-pe-me-na]] “stitched” shows that the verb had no initial ''ϝ-'', so this etymology must be abandoned.^(Beekes 2010)^(Wiktionary)^(LIV 2001) Its connection with [[ῥέπω|tr=rhépō]] and [[ῥέμβομαι|tr=rhémbomai]] is uncertain.^(Beekes 2010)^(Wiktionary)

+

+ ==Earliest recorded meaning==

+ Mycenaean tablets have ''e-ra-pe-me-na'' “stitched”.^(Beekes 2010) In the ''Iliad'' oxhides are stitched together, and the word is already used figuratively, “to stitch together evil”, that is, to plot.^(Cunliffe 1924)^(CGL 2021)

+

+ ==Semantic evolution==

+ It meant to sew or stitch together, and to make by sewing: Herodotus uses it for a shoe and a water-pipe of hides, Aristophanes for a cushion and false beards, and Euripides for the infant Dionysus sewn into the thigh of Zeus.^(CGL 2021)^(LSJ 1940) Its figurative use, to contrive murder or evil, runs from Homer to Herodotus and Euripides.^(CGL 2021)^(Cunliffe 1924)

+

+ In the Septuagint Adam and Eve sew fig leaves together, and Ecclesiastes has “a time to sew”.^(Lust 2003) Derivatives include [[ῥαφή|tr=rhaphḗ|t=seam]] and [[ῥαφίς|tr=rhaphís|t=needle]].^(Beekes 2010)^(Frisk 1960) Medieval Greek has ''ράβγω'' and ''ράφτω'', the ancestors of Modern Greek ''ράβω'' “to sew”.^(Kriaras)

+

+ ==Timeline==

+ * Mycenaean period – The tablets have the participle ''e-ra-pe-me-na''.^(Beekes 2010)

+ * Homer – The ''Iliad'' uses it for stitching hides and for plotting.^(Cunliffe 1924)^(CGL 2021)

+ * 5th century BC – Herodotus uses it for making a shoe and for plotting murder.^(CGL 2021)^(LSJ 1940)

+ * 5th century BC – Euripides uses it for Dionysus sewn into Zeus' thigh.^(LSJ 1940)^(CGL 2021)

+ * 3rd–1st century BC – The Septuagint uses it for sewing fig leaves.^(Lust 2003)

+ * 12th–17th century – Vernacular Greek has ''ράβγω'' and ''ράφτω''.^(Kriaras)

+

+ ==Meanings==

+ ===Verb===

+ # To [[m|en|sew]] together, [[m|en|stitch]].^(CGL 2021)^(LSJ 1940)

+ # To make by sewing.^(CGL 2021)

+ # ''(middle)'' To sew up; to have something stitched for oneself.^(CGL 2021)^(LSJ 1940)

+ # ''(figurative)'' To contrive, [[m|en|plot]] evil or murder.^(CGL 2021)^(Cunliffe 1924)

+

+ ==Related words==

+ * [[ῥαφή|tr=rhaphḗ]]

+ * [[ῥαφίς|tr=rhaphís]]

+ * [[ῥαψῳδός|tr=rhapsōidós]]

+ * [[ῥαψῳδία|tr=rhapsōidía]]

+

+ ==References==

+ {{reflist}}