θάπτω
Word
Validation
No
Word-form
τάπητες
Word-lemma
Etymon-lemma
Transliteration (Word)
tapēs
English translation (word)
carpet, rug
Transliteration (Etymon)
thaptō
English translation (etymon)
to bury
Source
Idem
Ref.
Etym Magnum, Kallierges p. 746
Ed.
T. Gaisford, Etymologicum Magnum, Oxford, 1848
Quotation
Τάπητες: Ἐπιβόλαια, ἢ στρώματα. Οὕτως Ἀριστοφάνης. Ἐτυμολογεῖ δὲ αὐτὸ Ὠρίων παρὰ τὸ θάλπω, θάλπης· καὶ μεταθέσει τοῦ θ εἰς τ, καὶ ἀποβολῇ τοῦ λ, τάπης. Ἢ δάπης καὶ τάπης. Ἢ παρὰ τὸ θάπτω, θάφης καὶ τάπης· ἢ παρὰ τὸ πατῶ, πάτης καὶ τάπης
Parallels
There is no parallel
Modern etymology
Probably a loanword. The Latin word tapēte was borrowed from Greek (Beekes, EDG)
Persistence in Modern Greek
MG still has τάπητας as: 1. a learned word for 'rug', the usual word being χαλί, 2. designating anything which covers a big surface from one edge to another. It is a calque from French "tapis" (see also ταπετσαρία). Popular phrase: "θέτω επί τάπητος".
Entry By
Le Feuvre
Comment
The name of the carpet is derived from the verb θάπτω "to bury", referring to the possible use of carpets or blankets to wrap or cover the dead in funeral contexts. The etymology implies a loss of aspiration: the intermediate step *θάφης is a ghost-word created for the sake of the etymology (and showing, incidentally, that Greek scholars were conscious that the stem of θάπτω was θαφ- with two aspirate consonants, which is what modern linguists reconstruct).