κόπτω
Word
Validation
No
Word-form
γόμφος
Word-lemma
Etymon-lemma
Transliteration (Word)
gomphos
English translation (word)
peg, nail
Transliteration (Etymon)
koptō
English translation (etymon)
to strike, to cut
Century
11 AD
Source
idem
Ref.
Etym. Gudianum, gamma, p. 319
Ed.
E.L. de Stefani, Etymologicum Gudianum, fasc. 1 & 2, Leipzig: Teubner, 1:1909; 2:1920 (repr. Amsterdam: Hakkert, 1965)
Quotation
Γόμφος· κυρίως τὸ ξύλινον καρφίον· παρὰ τὸ κόπτω κέκομμαι κόμφος καὶ γόμφος.
Translation (En)
Gomphos "peg": in the proper use it refers to the wooden peg; from koptō "to cut", <perfect> kekommai, *komphos and gomphos
Parallels
Etym. Magnum, Kallierges, p. 238 (Γόμφος: Κυρίως τὸ ξύλινον καρφίον. Παρὰ τὸν κέκομμαι παρακείμενον, κόμφος, καὶ γόμφος); Scholia in Oppinaum, Hal. 2.381 (Γόμφοισιν· ἥλοις, καρφίοις· γόμφος κυρίως τὸ ξύλινον καρφίον παρὰ τὸ κόπτω κέκομμαι κόμφος καὶ γόμφος);
Modern etymology
PIE *g̑ombho- "cutting tooth", cognate with Skr. jámbha-, OCS zǫbъ, Latv. zùobs, Toch. B keme (Beekes, EDG)
Persistence in Modern Greek
MG still has γόμφος as a learned word
Entry By
Le Feuvre
Comment
Derivational etymology requiring one formal change, as the voiceless /k/ is assumed to become a voiced /g/. This is commented upon in the etymology of the derivative γόμφιος in Orion's Etymologicum (p. 41, s.v. γόμφιος: κατὰ συγγένειαν τοῦ γ πρὸς τοῦ κ "because of the common feature /g/ shares with /k/"). Semantically, the peg is a wooden piece, therefore, something that has been cut (causal etymology)