Ancient Greek

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Etymology

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The primary thematic present has no direct correspondences outside Greek. There are few nominal formations resembling the Greek forms: Lithuanian lãpas (leaf) and lõpas (rag, piece), Albanian lapë (rag, leaf, peritoneum), Russian ла́поть (lápotʹ, bast shoe, bast sandal). The form λέπος (lépos) was also compared with the s-stem Latin lepōs (grace). However, Beekes concludes that the verb is not Indo-European: in fact there is hardly any exact correspondence and the semantics are not very convincing. Note the forms λεπάγιον (lepágion), λεπακινός (lepakinós), λέπασμα (lépasma), λέπυρον (lépuron), λεπύχανον (lepúkhanon), λέπρα (lépra), λώψ (lṓps) and λῶπος (lôpos), with suffixes and/or alternations of Pre-Greek appearance.[1]

Pronunciation

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Verb

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λέπω (lépō)

  1. to peel, bark, strip off the rind or husks
  2. (figuratively) to give a hiding to, thrash
  3. (mediopassive) to masturbate, indulge in indecent gestures
    Synonym: δέφω (déphō)

Conjugation

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Derived terms

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References

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  1. ^ Beekes, Robert S. P. (2010) “λέπω”, in Etymological Dictionary of Greek (Leiden Indo-European Etymological Dictionary Series; 10), with the assistance of Lucien van Beek, Leiden, Boston: Brill, →ISBN, pages 848-50

Further reading

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