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Indo-European Lexicon

PIE Etymon and IE Reflexes

Below we display: a Proto-Indo-European (PIE) etymon adapted from Pokorny, with our own English gloss; our Semantic Field assignment(s) for the etymon, linked to information about the field(s); an optional Comment; and Reflexes (derived words) in various Indo-European languages, organized by family/group in west-to-east order where Germanic is split into West/North/East families and English, our language of primary emphasis, is artificially separated from West Germanic. IE Reflexes appear most often as single words with any optional letter(s) enclosed in parentheses; but alternative full spellings are separated by '/' and "principal parts" appear in a standard order (e.g. masculine, feminine, and neuter forms) separated by commas.

Reflexes are annotated with: Part-of-Speech and/or other Grammatical feature(s); a short Gloss which, especially for modern English reflexes, may be confined to the oldest sense; and some Source citation(s) with 'LRC' always understood as editor. Keys to PoS/Gram feature abbreviations and Source codes appear below the reflexes; at the end are links to the previous/next etyma [in Pokorny's alphabetic order] that have reflexes.

Fans of J.R.R. Tolkien's The Hobbit and The Lord of the Rings may appreciate the source & meaning tips that pop up when the mouse pointer hovers over a non-obvious word or name that he coined from Indo-European (usually Old English or Old Norse) stock. But only reflexes of PIE etyma can be included, and these tend to concentrate in the vocabulary of Rohan and the Shire.

All reflex pages are currently under active construction; as time goes on, corrections may be made and/or more etyma & reflexes may be added.

Note: this page is for systems/browsers lacking Unicode^® support, or having less than full Unicode 2.0 font support. Versions of this page rendered in alternate character sets are available via links (see Unicode 3 and Unicode 2) in the left margin.

Pokorny Etymon: kap- 'to cop, grab, grasp; have?'

Semantic Field: to Grasp, Seize, Take Hold of

Indo-European Reflexes:

Family/Language	Reflex(es)	PoS/Gram.	Gloss	Source(s)
Celtic
Old Irish:	cachtaim	vb	to take captive	RPN
Welsh:	caeth	n	slave	RPN
English
Old English:	be-hof	n.masc	use, purpose, behoof	GED
	be-hofian/bihofian	vb.wk	to need, behoove	GED/ASD
	habban, hæfde, hæfd	vb.wk.III	to have, possess	LRC
	hæf	n	sea	LRC
	hæfen(e)	n.fem	haven	W7/ASD
	hæft	n.masc	bond, fetter; captivity	RPN/ASD
	hæftan	vb.wk	to bind, arrest, confine	RPN/ASD
	hæft(e)	n.neut	haft	ASD
	hæften	n.fem	custody	RPN/ASD
	hæftnian	vb.wk	to take captive	RPN/ASD
	h(e)afoc/hafuc	n.masc	hawk	W7/ASD
	hebban/hæbban	vb.str	to heave	W7/ASD
	hefeld	n	heddle	W7
	hefig/hefeg	adj	heavy	W7/ASD
Middle English:	acatour	n	cater	W7
	accepten	vb	to accept	W7
	behaven	vb	to behave	W7
	behof	n	behoof	W7
	behoven	vb	to behoove	W7
	cable	n	cable	W7
	cacchen	vb	to catch	W7
	caitif	adj	caitiff	W7
	capcioun	n	caption	W7
	capcious	adj	captious	W7
	capias	n	capias	W7
	captive	adj	captive	W7
	catour	n	cater	W7
	conceiven	vb	to conceive	W7
	deceiven	vb	to deceive	W7
	excepten	vb	to except	W7
	haft	n	haft	W7
	hauk	n	hawk	W7
	haven	n	haven	W7
	haven	vb	to have	W7
	helde	n	heddle	W7
	heven	vb	to heave	W7
	hevy	adj	heavy	W7
	occupien	vb	to occupy	W7
	perceiven	vb	to perceive	W7
	precept	n	precept	W7
	receiven	vb	to receive	W7
	recoveren	vb	to recover	W7
English:	accept	vb	to receive with consent	AHD/W7
	anticipate	vb	to give thought/treatment/discussion in advance	AHD/W7
	behave	vb	to bear/comport (oneself) in particular way	AHD/W7
	behoof	n	profit, advantage	AHD/W7
	behoove	vb	to be proper/necessary/advantageous	AHD/W7
	cable	n	strong rope, esp. 3+ inches in diameter	AHD/W7
	caccia	n	(poem celebrating) chase	W2I
	cacciatore	n	hunter-style meal: meat stew with wine/herbs/onions etc.	AHD
	caitiff	adj	base, cowardly, despicable	AHD/W7
	capable	adj	susceptible, able to do	AHD/W7
	capacious	adj	able to contain large amount	AHD/W7
	capias	n	legal writ/process commanding officer to arrest person	AHD/W7
	capstan	n	vertical spindle-mounted windlass	AHD/W7
	caption	n	part of legal instrument	AHD/W7
	captious	adj	calculated to confuse/entrap/entangle in argument	AHD/W7
	captivate	vb	to seize, capture	AHD/W7
	captive	adj	taken/held as prisoner	AHD/W7
	captor	n	one who has captured person/thing	AHD/W7
	capture	n	catching/gaining control by force/guile/stratagem	AHD/W7
	catch, caught	vb.str	to seize/capture after pursuit	AHD/W7
	cater	n	buyer of provisions	AHD/W7
	cater	vb.intrans	to provide food	AHD/W7
	chase	n	pursuit, act of chasing	AHD
	chase	vb	to hunt, pursue, run after	TLL
	conceit	n	vain pride	TLL
	conceive	vb	to become pregnant	AHD/W7
	concept	n	notion, abstract figuration	TLL
	conception	n	onset of pregnancy	TLL
	cop	n	copper	W7
	cop	vb.trans	to catch, capture	AHD/W7
	copepod	n	small freshwater/marine crustacean	AHD/W7
	copper	n	policeman, one who cops	W7
	deceive	vb	to ensnare	AHD/W7
	except	prep	with exclusion/exception of	W7
	except	vb	to exclude, take/leave out	AHD/W7
	forceps	n	instrument for grasping/holding/exerting traction	AHD/W7
	gaff	n	spear(head) for taking fish/turtles	AHD/W7
	haff	n	lagoon	LRC
	haft	n	handle of tool/weapon	AHD/W7
	have, had	vb.irr	to hold/possess as property	AHD/W7
	haven	n	port, harbor	AHD/W7
	hawk	n	diurnal bird of prey	AHD/W7
	heave, hove	vb.str/wk	to lift, raise, elevate	AHD/W7
	heavy	adj	having great weight	AHD/W7
	heddle	n	set of parallel cords/wires in loom for guiding warp threads	AHD/W7
	heft	n	bulk, weight, heaviness	AHD
	inception	n	beginning, commencement	AHD/W7
	incipient	adj	commencing, beginning to be (apparent)	AHD/W7
	intercept	vb.trans	to stop/interrupt course/progress	AHD/W7
	municipal	adj	re: internal affairs of nation/other political unit	AHD/W7
	nuncupative	adj	oral, not written	AHD/W7
	occupy	vb.trans	to engage attention/energies of	AHD/W7
	participate	vb	to partake	AHD/W7
	perceive	vb.trans	to attain awareness/understanding of	AHD/W7
	precept	n	command/principle intended as general rule	AHD/W7
	receive	vb	to get, take/come into possession of	AHD/W7
	receptor	n	(sensory stimulus) receiver	LRC
	recipe	n	prescription	AHD/W7
	recover	vb	to regain, get back	AHD/W7
	recuperate	vb	to regain, get back	AHD/W7
	Sandheaver	prop.n	hobbit surname in Tolkien: The Lord of the Rings	LRC
	susceptible	adj	re: submitting to action/process/operation	AHD/W7
	tactoreceptor	n	receptor responding to touch	AHD
	tangoreceptor	n	cutaneous receptor responding to touch/pressure	AHD
W-Germanic
Old Frisian:	be-hof	n.masc	use, purpose, behoof	GED
	habba/hebba	vb	to have	GED
	hebig	adj	heavy	ASD
	heva	vb	to heave	ASD
Frisian:	kapia	vb	to cop, take away	W7
Dutch:	haven	n	haven	TLL
	hebben	vb	to have	TLL
	kapen	vb	to cop, steal	W7
Old Saxon:	habbean	vb	to have	GED
	havan/haban	n	haven; bowl	KSW
	hebbian	vb	to heave	ASD
	heftian	vb	to bind, fetter	ASD
Middle Low German:	be-hof	n.masc	use, purpose, behoof	GED
Old High German:	giheftan	vb	to fetter	RPN
	haban/haben/han	vb	to have	GED
	habuh/hapuh/habich	n	hawk	W7/ASD
	hafan	n	haven; dish	KDW
	haft	n.masc	captivity	RPN/ASD
	hebic/heuig	adj	heavy	W7/ASD
	heftan	vb	to seize, bind, arrest	ASD
	hefti	n	haft	ASD
	hevan/heffan/heuen	vb	to heave	W7/ASD
	kouf	n	trade	W7
Middle High German:	be-huof	n.masc	purpose, business, behoof	GED
	habene	n	haven	W7
German:	haben	vb	to have	LRC
	Habicht	n	hawk	ASD
	Hafen	n.masc	haven	ASD
	Haff	n.neut	haff	TLL
	Haft	n.fem	imprisonment	ASD
	Haft	n.masc	clasp, rivet	ASD
	heben	vb	to heave	ASD
	Heft	n	haft	ASD
	heften	vb	to bind	ASD
	Kauf	n.masc	trade, purchase	LRC
	kaufen	vb	to buy, purchase, pay for	LRC
N-Germanic
Old Norse:	hafa, hafað	vb	to have, keep, hold; accept	LRC
	hafald	n	heddle	W7
	hefja	vb	to heave	LRC
	hofn	n	haven	KNW
Old Icelandic:	haft	n	bond, chain	RPN
	hof	n.neut	moderation	GED
	hoefa	vb	to hit, fit	GED
Icelandic:	hafa	vb	to have	ASD
	haft/hapt	n.neut	bond, chain	ASD
	haukr	n	hawk	ASD
	hefja	vb	to heave	ASD
	hepti	n.masc	haft; kilt	ASD
	höfn	n.fem	haven	ASD
Danish:	hav	n	sea	TLL
	have	vb	to have	TLL
	havn	n	haven	ASD
Swedish:	hamn	n	haven	TLL
	hav	n	sea	TLL
	hava	vb	to have	TLL
E-Germanic
Gothic:	*dis-haban	vb.wk.III	to take, hold	GED
	*ga-haban	vb.wk.III	to hold, maintain	GED
	haban	vb.wk.III	to have, hold	GED
	hafjan	vb	to heave	ASD
	*haftjan	vb	to hold fast	RPN
Italic
Latin:	accepto, acceptare	vb	to accept, receive	W7
	accipio, accipere, accepi, acceptus	vb	to receive	W7
	anticipo, anticipare, anticipavi, anticipatus	vb	to anticipate	W7
	capax, capacis	adj	capable, capacious	W7
	capio, capere, cepi, captum	vb	to take, seize	RPN
	captio, captionis	n.fem	seizure	W7
	captiosus	adj	deceitful	W7
	captivus	adj	captive	W7
	capto, captare	vb.freq	to chase	W7
	captura	n.fem	capture	W7
	caupo, cauponis	n.masc	huckster, innkeeper, petty tradesman	ELD
	caupona	n.fem	inn, tavern, retail shop	ELD
	cauponor, cauponari	vb.dep	to trade/traffic in	ELD
	-cipare/-cupare	vb.inf.sfx	to take, seize	W7
	conceptus	n	conception	TLL
	concipio, concipere	vb	to conceive, take in	W7
	decipio, decipere	vb	to catch, deceive	W7
	excepto, exceptare	vb	to take out	W7
	excipio, excipere, excepi, exceptus	vb	to except, take out	W7
	forceps	n.masc	pliers	W7
	incipiens, incipientis	adj/vb.ptc	beginning	W7
	incipio, incipere	vb	to begin	W7
	intercipio, intercipere, intercepi, interceptus	vb	to intercept, catch in between	W7
	municeps, municipis	n.masc	inhabitant of municipality; undertaker of duties	W7
	municipalis	adj	of a municipality	W7
	nuncupo, nuncupare, nuncupavi, nuncupatus	vb	to name	W7
	occupo, occupare	vb	to seize, occupy	W7
	particeps, participis	n.masc	participant	W7
	participo, participare, participavi, participatus	vb	to share, involve, participate	W7
	percipio, percipere	vb	to perceive, seize	W7
	praeceptum	n.neut	precept	W7
	praecipio, praecipere, praecepi, praeceptus	vb	to take beforehand, instruct	W7
	recipio, recipere	vb	to receive	W7
	recupero, recuperare, recuperavi, recuperatus	vb	to recuperate	W7
	suscipio, suscipere, suscepi, susceptus	vb	to take up	W7
Vulgar Latin:	captio, captiare	vb	to take, seize	W7
Late Latin:	capabilis	adj	capable	W7
	captor	n.masc	someone who captures	W7
	nuncupativus	adj	so-called	W7
	susceptibilis	adj	susceptible	W7
Medieval Latin:	capulum	n.neut	lasso	W7
	nuncupativus	adj	nuncupative	W7
Portuguese:	excepto	prep	except	TLL
Spanish:	cazar	vb	to chase	TLL
	excepto	prep	except	TLL
Old French:	conceivre	vb	to conceive	W7
	deceivre	vb	to deceive, to disappoint	W7
	perceivre	vb	to perceive	W7
Old North French:	acater	vb	to buy	W7
	cable	n.masc	strong rope	W7
	cachier	vb	to hunt	W7
	caitif	adj	vile, captive	W7
	receivre	vb	to receive	W7
Anglo-French:	acatour	vb	to buy	W7
Middle French:	accepter	vb	to accept	W7
	capable	adj	capable	W7
	captieux	adj	captious	W7
	capture	n.fem	rapt, capture	W7
	excepter	vb	to except	W7
	occuper	vb	to occupy	W7
	recoverer	vb	to recover	W7
French:	captif	n	captive	TLL
	chasser	vb	to chase	TLL
	chétif	adj	scrawny, wretched	TLL
	excepté	prep	except	TLL
	gaffe	n.fem	long pointed rod; clumsy action	W7
Provençal:	gaf	n.masc	rod, fishing spear	W7
Italian:	caccia	n	chase, caccia	W2I
	cacciatore	n	hunter; cacciatore	AHD
	eccetto	prep	except	TLL
Baltic
Latvian:	apkampt, apkampju, apkampu	vb	to embrace	LRC
Slavic
Russian:	kobets	n	falcon	W7
Albanian
Albanian:	kam	vb	to have	IEW
Hellenic
Greek:	kope	n.fem	oar	W7

Key to Part-of-Speech/Grammatical feature abbreviations:

Abbrev.		Meaning
III	=	class 3
adj	=	adjective
dep	=	deponent
fem	=	feminine (gender)
freq	=	frequentative (aspect)
inf	=	infinitive
intrans	=	intransitive
irr	=	irregular
masc	=	masculine (gender)
n	=	noun
neut	=	neuter (gender)
prep	=	preposition
prop	=	proper
ptc	=	participle
sfx	=	suffix
str	=	strong (inflection)
trans	=	transitive
vb	=	verb
wk	=	weak (inflection)

Key to information Source codes (always with 'LRC' as editor):

Code		Citation
AHD	=	Calvert Watkins: The American Heritage Dictionary of Indo-European Roots, 2nd ed. (2000)
ASD	=	Joseph Bosworth and T. Northcote Toller: An Anglo-Saxon Dictionary (1898)
ELD	=	Charlton T. Lewis: An Elementary Latin Dictionary (1999)
GED	=	Winfred P. Lehmann: A Gothic Etymological Dictionary (1986)
IEW	=	Julius Pokorny: Indogermanisches etymologisches Wörterbuch (1959)
KDW	=	Gerhard Köbler: Althochdeutsches Wörterbuch, 4th ed. (1993)
KNW	=	Gerhard Köbler: Altnordisches Wörterbuch, 2nd ed. (2003)
KSW	=	Gerhard Köbler: Altsächsisches Wörterbuch, 3rd ed. (2000)
LRC	=	Linguistics Research Center, University of Texas, Austin
RPN	=	Allan R. Bomhard: Reconstructing Proto-Nostratic (2002)
TLL	=	Frederick Bodmer: The Loom of Language (1944)
W2I	=	Webster's New International Dictionary of the English Language, 2nd ed. (1959)
W7	=	Webster's Seventh New Collegiate Dictionary (1963)

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