σκάπτω

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No

Last modification

Sat, 01/18/2025 - 12:52

Word-form

κάπη

Transliteration (Word)

kapē

English translation (word)

crib, manger

Transliteration (Etymon)

skaptō

English translation (etymon)

to dig

Author

Orion

Century

5 AD

Source

Meletius

Ref.

De natura hominis p. 83

Ed.

J. A. Cramer, Anecdota Graeca e codd. manuscriptis bibliothecarum Oxoniensium, vol. 3, Oxford: Oxford University Press, 1836 (repr. Amsterdam: Hakkert, 1963)

Quotation

καὶ γίνεται δὲ καὶ ἀπὸ τοῦ κάπη φάτνη, παρὰ τὸ κάπτειν, ὅ ἐστιν ἐσθίειν· […] ἢ παρὰ τὸ κάπος, ὅ ἐστι πνεῦμα, ὡς ἐν τῷ, ‘ἀπὸ δὲ ψυχὴν ἐκάπυσεν’· (Il. 10.467) ἢ διὰ τοῦ καταπνέεσθαι ἀπὸ τοῦ ἄσθματος τὸν ἵππον· ἢ παρὰ τὸ ἐσκάφθαι καὶ κεκοιλάνθαι)

Translation (En)

And it comes from kapē "crib", from kaptein, which means "to eat" […]. Or from kapos, which means "breath", as in the line ‘and he breathed out his soul" (Il. 10.467), or from the fact it is hollowed out by the breathing of horses. Or because it is dug (eskaphthai) and hollow

Comment

Derivational descriptive etymology: the crib is hollow, because it has been hollowed out ("dug"). This etymology only requires the loss of the initial /s/ of the etymon σκάπτω. It does not appear in Orion. However, the fact that it is found in Meletius and the Byzantine Etymologica makes it probable that it comes from Orion and was cut out in the extant versions of the latter. We cannot go further and know the grammarian from whom Orion took it

Parallels

Etym. Gudianum, kappa, p. 297 (Κάπη, ἡ φάτνη, παρὰ τὸ κάπτειν, ὅ ἐστιν ἐσθίειν, γέγονε κάπτη καὶ κάπη, ἢ παρὰ τὸ κάπος κάπη. κάπος δέ ἐστι τὸ πνεῦμα ἐν τῷ, ἀπὸ δὲ ψυχὴν ἐκάπησεν· ἢ καὶ ὑπὸ τῶν ἀσθμάτων τῶν ἵππων καταπνεόμενον· ἢ παρὰ τὸ ἐκάφθαι κοιλάνθαι); Etym. Magnum, Kallierges, p. 207 (Βουκάπη: Ἡ φάτνη τῶν βοῶν. Ἀπὸ τοῦ κάπτω, τὸ ἐσθίω, γίνεται κάπη· τουτέστιν ἐν ᾗ οἱ βοῦς κάπτουσι); ibid., p. 489 (Κάπη: Ἡ φάτνη· παρὰ τὸ κάπτειν (ὅ ἐστιν ἐσθίειν) ἱσταμένους τοὺς ἵππους ἐν αὐταῖς. Ἰλιάδος θʹ, ‘δῆσε δ’ ἐπ’ ἀμβροσίῃσι κάπῃσι’. Γίνεται κάπτη καὶ κάπη. Ἢ παρὰ τὸ κάπος, κάπη· κάπος δέ ἐστι τὸ πνεῦμα· καὶ Ὅμηρος, ‘ἀπὸ δὲ ψυχὴν ἐκάπυσσεν’, ἀντὶ τοῦ ἐξέπνευσε· τουτέστιν ἡ ὑπὸ τῶν ἀσθμάτων καταπνεομένη τῶν ἵππων. Ἢ παρὰ τὸ ἐσκάφθαι καὶ κεκοιλάνθαι); Ps.-Zonaras, Lexicon, kappa, p. 1154 (Κάπη. ἡ φάτνη. παρὰ τὸ κάπτειν, τὸ ἐσθίειν, γέγονε κάπτη καὶ κάπη. [ἢ παρὰ τὸ κάπος, κάπη.] κάπος δέ ἐστι τὸ πνεῦμα. ἡ ὑπὸ τῶν ἀσθμάτων τῶν ἵππων καταπνεομένη. ἢ παρὰ τὸ ἐσκάφθαι καὶ κοιλάνθαι)

Modern etymology

Derivative of κάπτω (Beekes, EDG)

Persistence in Modern Greek

No

Entry By

Le Feuvre