λείπω
Word
Validation
Yes
Word-form
λεπτός
Word-lemma
Etymon-lemma
Transliteration (Word)
leptos
English translation (word)
peeled, thin, lean
Transliteration (Etymon)
leipō
English translation (etymon)
to leave
Century
9 AD
Source
Idem
Ref.
Etym. Genuinum, lambda 66
Ed.
K. Alpers, Bericht über Stand und Methode der Ausgabe des Etymologicum genuinum [Danske Videnskabernes Selskab, Hist.-filol. Meddelelser 44.3. Copenhagen: Munksgaard, 1969]: 29-53
Quotation
Λεπτός· παρὰ τὸ λείπω λεπτός· ὁ λείπων καὶ ὁ ἐνδέων. ἢ λέπω λεπτὸς ὁ ἐξελεπισμένος. ⸤ἢ παρὰ τὸ λέπος· τοῦτο παρὰ τὸ λέπω τὸ λεπίζω, ὁ μέλλων λέψω, ὁ παθητικὸς παρακείμενος λέλεμμαι λέλεψαι λέλεπται λεπτός.⸥
Translation (En)
Leptos "peeled, thin": from leipō "to leave", leptos, that which is left (leipōn) and lacking (endeōn). Or from lepō "to peel", leptos "the peeled one". Or from lepos "rind": the latter comes from lepō "to peel", the future is lepsō, the passive perfect lelemmai, lelepsai, leleptai, <whence> leptos
Parallels
Etym. Magnum, Kallierges p. 560 (idem)
Modern etymology
Λεπτός is the verbal adjective of λέπω "to peel". See λεπρός for the modern etymology
Persistence in Modern Greek
Λεπτός is used in Modern Greek to designate: 1. "thin", 2. "consisting of thin pieces", 3. "pleasantly subtle", 4. "not dense", 5. (metaph.) "not perceivded" and many more. Λεπτό is the "minute", and in the plural/λεφτά means "money".
Entry By
Le Feuvre
Comment
This etymology, based on meaning rather than form, relies on the passive meaning of λείπω "to leave", as it refers to what is "left" (peeled off), but as usual the etymon is given conventionally under the active form. Conventionally also, as the lemma is the masculine nominative, the gloss is given in the masculine nominative ὁ λείπων, although semantically we would expect a neuter. The alternative derivation from λέπω, on the other hand, starts explicitly from the passive verb. The etymology by λείπω implies a formal manipulation (change of [ei], pronounced [i] in Byzantine Greek, into [e]).