ἑάφθη

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Ancient Greek

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Etymology

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Uncertain, particularly as its meaning is poorly understood (see Usage notes for more). Perhaps from Proto-Indo-European *sengʷ- (to sink, to drop),[1] and thus cognate with English sink, as well as Old Armenian անկանիմ (ankanim) and ընկենում (ənkenum).

Pronunciation

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Verb

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ἑάφθη (heáphthē)

  1. The meaning of this term is uncertain.

Usage notes

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The word is used only twice in the Iliad. Even in antiquity the meaning was poorly understood. Tyrannion argued for interpreting it as ἥφθη (hḗphthē), an unattested aorist of ἅπτω (háptō, fasten). Aristarchus connected it to ἕπομαι (hépomai, follow). Hesychius glossed the word as ἐκάμφθη (ekámphthē), ἐβλάβη (eblábē). Also possibly related to ἰάπτω (iáptō). More modern studies connect it to Gothic 𐍃𐌹𐌲𐌵𐌰𐌽 (sigqan, sink) or Gothic 𐍃𐌹𐌲𐌲𐍅𐌰𐌽 (siggwan, sing).

References

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  1. ^ Beekes, Robert S. P. (2010) Etymological Dictionary of Greek (Leiden Indo-European Etymological Dictionary Series; 10), with the assistance of Lucien van Beek, Leiden, Boston: Brill, →ISBN, page 367