ἔρα
Word
Validation
No
Word-form
ἑρπετά
Word-lemma
Etymon-lemma
Transliteration (Word)
herpeton
English translation (word)
beast, reptile
Transliteration (Etymon)
era
English translation (etymon)
earth
Century
1 AD
Source
Idem
Ref.
Vocum Hippocraticarum collectio, p. 66
Ed.
E. Nachmanson, Erotiani vocum Hippocraticarum collectio cum fragmentis, Göteborg, 1918
Quotation
ἕρπει· ἠρέμα βαδίζει. καὶ ἑρπετὰ τὰ εἰς τὴν ἔραν βαδίζοντα, ἤγουν τὴν γῆν
Translation (En)
Herpei ("he crawls"): he walks quietly; and herpeta ("reptiles") are those that tread on the "floor" (eran), that is the earth
Parallels
Etym. Parvum, epsilon 32 (ἐξεῖρψεν· ἔστιν ἔρα, ἡ γῆ, ἐξ αὐτοῦ ἕρπω, τὸ σύρω, ἐξ οὗ καὶ ἑρπετόν, τὸ συρόμενον ἐπὶ τὴν γῆν); Etym. Gud., epsilon 485 (ἐξεῖρψεν... ἔστιν ἔρα, ἡ γῆ, καὶ ἐξ αὐτοῦ γίνεται ἕρπω, τὸ σύρομαι, ἐξ οὗ καὶ ἑρπετόν, τὸ συρόμενον ἐπὶ τὴν γῆν)
Modern etymology
The word is derived from ἕρπω "to creep" (PIE *serp-), compare Latin serpens "snake", lit. "creeping". The etymological meaning is "creeping, crawling" animal
Persistence in Modern Greek
The Modern Greek form is "ερπετό" (pl. "ερπετά") and it designates the animals that are cold-blooded, have keratin skin, breathe air and move by creeping. The word is also used metaphorically to denote a sly man (Triandafyllidis, Dictionary of MG)
Entry By
Arnaud Zucker
Comment
This is a variant of the etymology ἔρα + πίπτω. But the second part of the word seems unexplained, unless we infer here an elliptic etymology where βαδίζειν would be a substitute for the phonetically more promising synonym πατεῖν (thus ἔρα + πατεῖν)