ἔπος
Word
Validation
No
Word-form
ήπιος
Word-lemma
Etymon-lemma
Transliteration (Word)
ēpios
English translation (word)
gentle, kind
Transliteration (Etymon)
epos
English translation (etymon)
word
Century
5 AD
Source
idem
Ref.
Etymologic, eta, p. 70
Ed.
F. Sturz, Orionis Thebani etymologicon, Leipzig, Weigel, 1820
Quotation
Ἤπιος. παρὰ τὸ ἔπος <ἔ>πιος, καὶ τροπῇ τοῦ ε εἰς η, ἤπιος· ὁ λόγῳ καὶ μὴ πάθει πάντα ποιῶν (NB: Sturz prints παρὰ τὸ ἔπος ἤπιος; the correct intermediate form ἔπιος is preserved in the Gudianum)
Translation (En)
ēpios "gentle": from epos "word", *epios, and by change of /e/ to /ē/, ēpios. The one who achieves everything by his words and not by passion
Parallels
Etym. Gudianum, eta, p. 247 (Ἠπιώτατος, ὁ ἐν λόγοις πραότατος. ἔπω οὖν τὸ λέγω, ἔπιος καὶ τροπῇ τοῦ ε εἰς η, ἤπιος καὶ τὸ ὑπερθετικὸν ἠπιώτατος); Etym. Magnum, Kallierges, p. 434 (ἤπιος σημαίνει κυρίως τὸν λογισμόν. Παρὰ τὸ ἔπω, τὸ λέγω, ἔπιος καὶ ἤπιος, ὁ ἐν λόγῳ πάντα ποιῶν, καὶ μὴ πάθει· ἐκ μεταλήψεως δὲ καὶ ὁ διὰ λόγου προσηνὴς καὶ πρᾶος· καὶ ἠπιώτατος, ὁ ἐν λόγοις πραότατος καὶ ἥσυχος)
Modern etymology
Isolated within Greek. Cognate with Ved. ā́pi- "friend" (Beekes, EDG)
Persistence in Modern Greek
MG still has ήπιος "mild, gentle" as a learned word, and the derivative ηπιότητα
Entry By
Le Feuvre
Comment
Derivational etymology, requiring one formal change, the lengthening of /e/ to /ē/, of a usual type (cf. τίθημι / τίθεμεν). The "gentle" man is mainly characterized by his kind words. In the Et. Gudianum and Magnum the etymology is rephrased and εἶπον is provided as the etymon, because εἶπον is the etymon of ἔπος, therefore it could be also assumed to be the etymon of a derivative of ἔπος