κείρω

Validation

No

Word-form

καρπός

Transliteration (Word)

karpos

English translation (word)

fruit

Transliteration (Etymon)

keirō

English translation (etymon)

to cut

Author

Etym. Magnum

Century

12 AD

Source

Idem

Ref.

Etym. Magnum, Kallierges, p. 492

Ed.

T. Gaisford, Etymologicum Magnum, Oxford, 1848

Quotation

Καρπός: Παρὰ τὸ κάρφος, ὃ σημαίνει τὸν ξηρὸν, γίνεται καρφὸς, καὶ καρπὸς, παρὰ τὸ κεκάρφθαι, ὃ ἐστὶν ἐξηράνθαι. Ἢ παρὰ τὴν ἅρπην, τουτέστιν ὁ τῇ δρεπάνῃ συναγόμενος. Ἢ ἀπὸ τοῦ κείρω, τὸ κόπτω, ὁ παρακείμενος, κέκαρκα· ὁ παθητικὸς, κέκαρμαι· ἐξ αὐτοῦ καρπὸς, ὁ κοπτόμενος καὶ προσφερόμενος εἰς βρῶσιν. Πρὸς ἀντιδιαστολὴν δὲ ἐβαρύνθη τὸ Κάρπος κύριον ὄνομα. Σημαίνει δὲ δύο· κυρίως γὰρ καρπὸς λέγεται, ὁ πρὸς ἄμητον ἡτοιμασμένος ἄσταχυς· οὗτος γὰρ ἡνίκα λευκανθῇ καὶ ξηρανθῇ, ἕτοιμός ἐστι πρὸς θερισμόν. Σημαίνει καὶ τὸ κοῖλον τῆς χειρὸς, ὡς τὸ, ‘κύσε χεῖρ’ ἐπὶ καρπῷ’. Ἔνθεν καὶ ὁ τῆς χειρὸς ξηρὸς τόπος καὶ ἄσαρκος καρπὸς λέγεται

Translation (En)

Karpos "fruit": from kárphos, which means "dryness", comes *karphós, and karpos, from the fact that it is parched, that is, it is dry. Or from harpē "sickle", that which is gathered with the sickle. Or from keirō "to cut", the perfect <is> kekarka, and the passive kekarmai, from which karpos, the one which is cut and brought for food. In opposition the proper name Karpos received a non final stress. It means two things: is properly called karpos the spike ready to be reaped – and when it is white and dry, it is ready for reaping. It means also the hollow part of the hand as in ‘he kissed his hand on the wrist’ (Od. 24.398) And from there the dry and fleshless place in the hand is called karpos "wrist"

Comment

Paronymic etymology deriving καρπός from the zero grade of the root *ker- of κείρω. The zero grade providing the [a] is found in the perfect of the verb. This etymology implies that the reduplication is lost in the derivation. The fruit is etymologized as the cut one.

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