δρέπω

Word

Validation

Yes

Word-form

δόρπον

Word-lemma

LSJ

Etymon-lemma

LSJ

Transliteration (Word)

dorpon

English translation (word)

dinner, evening meal

Transliteration (Etymon)

drepō

English translation (etymon)

to pluck

Author

bT Scholia Iliad

Century

6 AD

Source

Idem

Ref.

bT Scholion Il. 24.2

Ed.

H. Erbse, Scholia græca in Homeri Iliadem (scholia vetera), Berlin, 1971-1982

Quotation

δόρπον <δαύερπον>, μεθ’ ὃ ἐπὶ τὸ δαύειν ἕρπομεν, ὅ ἐστι κοιμᾶσθαι ἐπὶ δορῶν. ἢ ἀπὸ τοῦ δρέπεσθαι τοὺς πόνους. ἢ δόροπόν τι ὄν, τὸ μετὰ τὴν παῦσιν τῶν δοράτων

Translation (En)

Dorpon "dinner" is a *dauerpon, after which we go to bed, that is, to sleep on hides. Or from "to pluck for oneself" (drepesthai) the labours; or as it were a *doropon, that which follows the cessation of fighting (lit. "of the spears).

Comment

Formally, this etymology relies on the usual e ~ o alternation δρέπω / δόρπον as in λέγω / λόγος. It also implies a metathesis of [r] (*dropon > dorpon), which was a customary manipulation for Greek etymologists. The formulation in the bT Scholia (which date back to Late Antiquity and are older than the 6th c. AD) is intriguing, it seems to mean "to harvest the labours (of war)", that is, to enjoy the fruit of a day of fighting (?), as though the word were parsed as a compound δρέπω + πόνος. There is a different formulation in Byzantine Etymologica (see Parallels), δρέπεσθαι τοῖς ὀδοῦσι "to pluck with the teeth", semantically clearer, but which is likely to be a later correction

Parallels

Etym. Symeonis, delta p. 331 (Δόρπος· ἡ περὶ τὴν ἑσπέραν ἑστίασις· παρὰ τὸ ἕρπειν ἡμᾶς εἰς τὸ δαύειν, ὅ ἐστι κοιμᾶσθαι· ἢ παρὰ τὸ οἱονεὶ παύεσθαι λοιπὸν τηνικαῦτα τοὺς πολεμοῦντας τοῦ δόρατος, ὅ ἐστι τοῦ πολέμου, καὶ ἡσυχάζειν· ἢ παρὰ τὸ δρέπεσθαι τοὺς πόνους); Etym. Magnum, Kallierges p. 283 (Δόρπος: Ὁ δεῖπνος, ἡ περὶ τὴν ἑσπέραν ἑστίασις· κυρίως ἡ ἑσπερινὴ τροφή· ἀπὸ τῶν δερμάτων· ὅτι ἐπὶ δερμάτων καθήμενοι ἐσιτοῦντο. Ἢ παρὰ τὸ δρέπεσθαι τοῖς ὀδοῦσιν· ἢ παρὰ τὸ τοὺς πόνους δρέπειν· ἢ παρὰ τὸ ἕρπειν ἡμᾶς εἰς τὸ δαύειν, ὅ ἐστι κοιμᾶσθαι. Οὕτως Ὦρος. Ἐγὼ δέ φημι, ὡς εὗρον σχόλιον παρακείμενον ἐν τῷ βʹ τῆς Ἰλιάδος· δόρπος εἴρηται, παρὰ τὸ οἱονεὶ παύεσθαι τηνικαῦτα λοιπὸν τοὺς πολεμοῦντας τοῦ δόρατος, ὅ ἐστι τοῦ πολέμου, καὶ ἡσυχάζειν); Ps.-Zonaras, Lexicon, delta p. 559 (idem); Scholia et glossae in Oppiani Halieutica 1, 79 (δόρπος ἡ πρὸς ἑσπέραν τροφὴ, μεθ’ ἣν ἐπὶ τὸ ἰαύειν ἕρπομεν, ἢ ἀπὸ τοῦ δρέπεσθαι τοὺς πόνους, ἢ δοροπόν τι ὂν τὸ μετὰ τὴν παῦσιν τῶν δοράτων)

Modern etymology

Unknown. May be related to Alb. darkë "evening (meal)" (Beekes, EDG)

Persistence in Modern Greek

The word exists in Modern Greek in the compound "επιδόρπιο", 'fruit or sweet as desert after the main meal', from the substantivised neutral hellenistic ἐπιδόρπιον, meaning 'to use after a meal'.

Entry By

Le Feuvre
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