ἔρα + πίπτειν
Word
Validation
Yes
Word-form
ἑρπετόν
Word-lemma
Transliteration (Word)
herpeton
English translation (word)
beast, reptile
Transliteration (Etymon)
era + piptein
English translation (etymon)
earth + fall
Century
5 AD
Source
Idem
Ref.
Etymologicum, epsilon 61
Ed.
F.W. Sturz, Orionis Thebani etymologicon, Leipzig: Weigel, 1820 (repr. 1973)
Quotation
Ἑρπετόν. παρὰ τὸ ἕρπω ῥῆμα, ἢ παρὰ τὸ ἐμπίπτειν τῇ ἔρᾳ
Translation (En)
Reptile: from the verb herpō (“creep”), or from "falling” (empiptein) on the “ground” (era)
Parallels
Hesychius, Lexicon epsilon 5990 (Latte) : ἑρπετά· τὰ ἄποδα, παρὰ τὸ εἰς τὴν ἔραν πεπτωκέναι (perfect infinitive of piptein); Philopon, De Opificio mundi 217.3-6 (Reichardt) : Ἑρπετὰ δὲ καλεῖται κυρίως τὰ μὴ ποσὶ τῆς γῆς ἐπιβαίνοντα ἀλλ’ ὅλα ἐπιπεπτωκότα τῇ γῇ· ἔρα γὰρ ἡ γῆ παρ’ Ἕλλησι κέκληται, ἐξ οὗ καὶ τὸ ἔραζε γέγονεν ἐπίρρημα, ἐραπετά τινα ὄντα εἰς τὴν ἔραν πεπτωκότα; Etymologicum magnum, epsilon 376-7 (Gaisford): Ἑρπετόν· [...] Ἢ παρὰ τὸ ἐν τῇ ἔρᾳ πέτειν (alternative form for piptein according to some ancient grammarians). Κυρίως δὲ τὰ ἄποδα εἴρηται ἑρπετὰ, ἀπὸ τοῦ πίπτειν ἐν τῇ ἔρᾳ
Modern etymology
The word is derived from ἕρπω "to creep" (PIE *serp-), compare Latin serpens "snake", lit. "creeping". The etymological meaning is "creeping, crawling" animal
Persistence in Modern Greek
The Modern Greek form is "ερπετό" (pl. "ερπετά") and it designates the animals that are cold-blooded, have keratin skin, breathe air and move by creeping. The word is also used metaphorically to denote a sly man (Triandafyllidis, Dictionary of MG)
Entry By
Arnaud Zucker
Comment
The etymological root is clearly the simple form of the verb (expressed here in the composed form: em-piptein) ; see parallels. Note that ἔρα (as noun) is never used in ancient Greek (only as Homeric adverb ἔραζε). The existence of a verb petein, synonymous with piptein, encouraged this etymology (see Eust. Comm. Il., vol. 3, p. 263 : ὃ παρὰ τὸ πέτειν, ὅ ἐστι πίπτειν). The form ἐραπετά (hapax) is forged by Philopon as a restituted intermediary form. Apart from the verb ἕρπω, two other etymologies are given by later Lexica : ἐρείπειν (fall down), or simply ἔρα (all present in Etym. Magnum)