κόπτω
Word
Validation
Yes
Word-form
κώπη
Word-lemma
Etymon-lemma
Transliteration (Word)
kōpē
English translation (word)
handle, oar
Transliteration (Etymon)
koptō
English translation (etymon)
to smite
Century
9 AD ?
Source
Idem
Ref.
In Iliad 1.219b
Ed.
Dyck, Epimerismi homerici, pars prior epimerismos continens qui ad Iliadis librum A pertinent, Berlin, 1983
Quotation
κώπη· ἡ λαβὴ τοῦ ξίφους, παρὰ τὸ μὴ κόπτειν τὴν χεῖρα. κόπτω οὖν κώπη, τῆς θέσει μακρᾶς γενομένης φύσει, ὡς ἀπὸ τοῦ κολλῶ κωλύω
Translation (En)
Kōpē “handle” : the handle of the sword, from the fact that it does not koptein “cut” the hand. From koptō “cut” ‹one derives› kōpē “handle”, the syllable which is long by position becoming long by nature, as from kollō "to stick to" one derives kōluō "to impede"
Modern etymology
Derivative from *keh2p- "to grasp" (Lat. capio), found in Greek in κάπτω "to swallow" (Beekes, EDG)
Persistence in Modern Greek
The form "κουπί" has replaced "κώπη" in Modern Greek to denote "oar". However, the prefix "κωπη-" survives in the MG words "κωπηλασία" ("rowing"), "κωπηλάτης" ("rower") etc. (Triandafyllidis, Dictionary of MG)
Entry By
Le Feuvre
Comment
Semantic derivation based on an etymology a contrario or enantiosemy (the word is named after what it is not). Formal derivation based on the alternation o ~ ō (δίδομεν ~ δίδωμι) here attributed to the change in syllable quantity, lengthening being a compensation for the loss of the following consonant (open syllable in kōluō, closed syllable in kollō).
Most Greek grammarians derive the word from koptein "to smite" but without the enantiosemy, admitting that one can smite with a handle, and that the oar strikes water: Etym. Gudianum p. 358, 36-38 (Κώπη, ἡ λαβὴ τοῦ ξίφους, ᾗ κόπτειν δυνάμεθα, παρὰ τὸ κόπτω κοπὴ καὶ ἀναβιβασμῷ καὶ τροπῇ κώπη· καὶ ἡ τῶν ἐρετῶν κώπη λέγεται παρὰ τὸ κόπτειν τὸ ὕδωρ). Suda, kappa 2295 (κώπη· ἡ λαβὴ τοῦ ξίφους, ἡ κόπτειν δυναμένη)