κάρα
Word
Validation
No
Word-form
καρπός
Word-lemma
Etymon-lemma
Transliteration (Word)
karpos
English translation (word)
fruit
Transliteration (Etymon)
kara
English translation (etymon)
head
Century
11 AD
Source
Idem
Ref.
Etym. Gudianum, kappa, p. 300
Ed.
F.W. Sturz, Etymologicum Graecae linguae Gudianum et alia grammaticorum scripta e codicibus manuscriptis nunc primum edita, Leipzig: Weigel, 1818
Quotation
Καρπὸς, παρὰ τὸ φυῆναι αὐτὸν ἐκ τῆς κάρας, καὶ τοῦ ὀποῦ τοῦ δένδρου. τὸ γὰρ ἄκρον τοῦ σώματος ἡ κεφαλή. καὶ ἡ τοῦ δένδρου κεφαλὴ τὸ ἄκρον ἐστι καρπὸς τὸ καίριον παντὸς πράγματος, ἢ ὁ τοῦ καιροῦ παντὸς ἴδιος καρπός
Translation (En)
Karpos "fruit", from the fact that it grows from the head (karas) and the sap of the tree. Because the top of the body is the head. And the head of the tree is the top. Karpos is the achievement of any thing, or the specific fruit of all occasion.
Parallels
There is no parallel
Modern etymology
Probably cognate with Lat. carpō and Lith. kerpù "to cut", with zero grade of the root (Beekes, EDG)
Persistence in Modern Greek
Καρπός is still used in Modern Greek designating: 1. 'the final product of a plan', 2. 'children' as the "result of marriage", 3. 'any product of human activity'.
Entry By
Le Feuvre
Comment
Derivational etymology relying on a metonymy: the fruit is etymologized after the place in which it grows, namely, the "head" of the tree. It follows the acrophonic principle. Alternatively, we could have here a compositional etymology if the etymon is κάρα + ὄπος "sap": the beginning of the explanation in the Gudianum seems to orient toward the compositional etymology, but what follows only deals with κάρα.