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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 with Unicode^® support and fonts spanning the Unicode 3 character set relevant to Indo-European languages. Versions of this page rendered in alternate character sets are available via links (see Unicode 2 and ISO-8859-1) in the left margin.

Pokorny Etymon: 2. (s)kē̆p-, (s)kō̆p-, and (s)kā̆p-, (s)kē̆b(h)-, skob(h)-, and skā̆b(h)- 'to cut, shave, split with sharp tool'

Semantic Fields: to Cut; to Split

Indo-European Reflexes:

Family/Language	Reflex(es)	PoS/Gram.	Gloss	Source(s)
English
Old English:	capūn	n.masc	capon	W7
	gescieppan, gescōp, gescōpon, gesceapen	vb.str.VI	to shape, create	LRC
	sceab/sce(ab)b/scæb	n.masc	scab, scurf	GED/ASD
	sc(e)afan, scōf, scōfon, sc(e)afen	vb.str	to shave, scrape	GED
	sceaft	n.masc	shaft, pole	W7
	scieppan, scōp, scōpon, sceapen	vb.str.VI	to shape, form, create	LRC
	scieppend	n.masc	shaper, creator	LRC
	-scipe	n.sfx	-ship	W7
Middle English:	capon	n	capon	W7
	scab	n	scab	W7
	scaplen	vb	to scabble	W7
	sceptre	n	scepter	W7
	scope	n	scoop	W7
	shaft	n	shaft	W7
	shapen	vb	to shape, create	W7
	shaven	vb	to shave	W7
	-ship	n.sfx	-ship	W7
	skopper	n	scupper	W7
English:	apocope	n	loss of sounds/letters at end of word	AHD/W7
	bathyscaphe	n	navigable submersible deep-sea vessel	AHD/W7
	capon	n	castrated male chicken	AHD/W7
	comma	n	punctuation marking separation in sentence	AHD/W7
	Fellowship	prop.n	band of 9 heroes in Tolkien: The Lord of the Rings	LRC
	fellowship	n	group of friends/comrades	LRC
	landscape	n	representation of natural inland scenery	AHD/W7
	partnership	n	state of being partners	W7
	sapsago	n	hard green cheese containing aromatic legume leaf	AHD/W7
	scab	n	dried blood on skin	AHD/W7
	scabble	vb.trans	to dress (stone) roughly	AHD/W7
	scabies	n	itch, mange, skin disease	W7
	scabrous	adj	knotty, difficult	AHD/W7
	scaphocephalic	adj	boat-shaped, re: long narrow skull deformity	AHD
	scaphoid	adj	navicular, boat-shaped	AHD/W7
	scaphopod	n/adj	tooth-shell mollusk; having foot fit for burrowing	AHD
	scapula	n	shoulder-blade bone	AHD/W7
	scepter	n	staff/baton of authority	LRC
	scoop	n	large ladle	AHD/W7
	scoop	vb	to dip, dig out, use scoop	W7
	scupper	n	bulwark opening where water on ship deck flows overboard	AHD/W7
	shab	n	low fellow	AHD/W7
	shabby	adj	faded/threadbare from wear	AHD/W7
	shaft	n	long handle of spear/similar weapon	AHD/W7
	shape	vb	to form, create	AHD/W7
	shave	vb	to remove hair/thin layer of skin	AHD/W7
	-ship	n.sfx	state, quality, condition	AHD/W7
	syncope	n	temporary suspension of circulation/respiration due to brain ischemia	AHD/W7
British English:	sceptre	n	scepter	LRC
W-Germanic
Old Frisian:	-skip(e)	n.sfx	-ship	ASD
Middle Dutch:	schope	n	scoop	W7
Dutch:	kapoen	n.masc	capon	ASD
	landschap	n	landscape	W7
	-schap	n.sfx	-ship	W7
	schaven	vb	to shave	GED
	schub	n	scab, scale, shingle	TLL
Old Saxon:	skaft	n	shaft, spear	ASD
	skap	n	vessel	KSW
	skapo	n	dish	KSW
	-skepi	n.sfx	-ship	ASD
Old Low German:	scavan	vb	to shave, scrape	ASD
Middle Low German:	schaven	vb	to shave	GED
	schōve	n	scale	GED
Old High German:	scaft/scafe	n	shaft	W7/ASD
	-scaft	n.sfx	-ship	W7
	schaben/scaban/scapan	vb.str	to shave	GED/ASD
	scuob	vb.pret	shaved	GED
	scuoppa	n.fem	scab, scale, shingle	GED
	skaf	n	tray, vessel	KDW
	skaffo	n	scoop, dish	KDW
	skepfen	vb	to shape	W7
Middle High German:	kapūn	n	capon	ASD
German:	Kapaun	n.masc	capon	ASD
	Landschaft	n.fem	landscape	LRC
	Schabe	n	scab, itch	ASD
	schaben	vb	to shave, scrape, grate	LRC
	Schabziger	n.masc	sapsago	W7
	Schaft	n.masc	shaft	LRC
	Schuppe	n	scab, scale, shingle	TLL
N-Germanic
Old Norse:	kapūn	n.masc	capon	ASD
	skap	n.neut	character	LRC
	skapa, skapað	vb	to make, shape, create; determine	LRC
Old Icelandic:	skafa	vb	to shave	GED
	skōf	vb.pret	shaved	GED
	skōfir	n.fem.pl	singed crusts (at bottom of pan)	GED
Icelandic:	skafa	vb	to shave, scrape	ASD
	skapt/skaft	n	shaft, haft (of an axe)	ASD
Danish:	kapun	n.masc	capon	ASD
	skab	n	scab	ASD
	skab	n	cupboard	TLL
Old Swedish:	skabbr	n	scab	W7
Swedish:	kapun	n.masc	capon	ASD
	skabb	n	scab	ASD
	skafferi	n	pantry	TLL
	skap	n	cupboard	TLL
E-Germanic
Gothic:	skaban	vb.str.VI	to shear	GED
Italic
Latin:	capo, caponis	n.masc	capon	W7
	comma	n.neut	part of sentence	W7
	scaber, scabris	adj	rough, scurfy	W7
	scābī	vb.pret	shaved	GED
	scabiēs	n.fem	scurf, roughness; scab, scabies	W7/ELD
	scabō, scabere	vb	to shave, scrape, scratch	GED
	scapula	n.fem.dim	shoulder, scapula	W7/ELD
	scapus	n.masc	shaft, stalk	W7
	sceptrum	n.neut	scepter	W7
Late Latin:	apocope	n	apocope	AHD
Old French:	ceptre	n	scepter	W7
Old North French:	capon	n.masc	castrated male chicken	W7
Middle French:	escapler	vb	to dress timber	W7
Baltic
Lithuanian:	skàbti	vb	to pluck	GED
Latvian:	skabît	vb	to hew off	GED
Slavic
Old Church Slavonic:	skoblь	n	scraping-knife	GED
Hellenic
Homeric Greek:	κόπτω	vb	to cut, strike, hammer	IEW
	σκῆπτρον	n.neut	staff, scepter	LRC
Greek:	ἀποκοπή	n.fem	apocope, cutting off	LS
	ἀπο-κόπτω	vb	to cut/hew off	LS
	κόμμα	n.neut	clause, segment; coin stamp/impression	LS
	κόπτω	vb	to smite, strike, forge; cut/chop off	LS
	προσκόπτω	vb	to strike against	LRC
	σκάφη	n.fem	something dug/scooped out (e.g. tub, trough, skiff, light boat)	LS
	σκᾰφίδιον	n.neut.dim	small skiff	LS
	σκᾰφίς	n.fem.dim	pot, bowl, milk-pail; skiff, canoe	LS
	skaphoeidēs	adj	re: boat	W7
	σκάφος	n.neut	boat, ship	LS
	synkopē	n.fem	syncope, cutting short	W7
	synkoptein	vb	to cut short	W7

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

Abbrev.		Meaning
VI	=	class 6
adj	=	adjective
dim	=	diminutive
fem	=	feminine (gender)
masc	=	masculine (gender)
n	=	noun
neut	=	neuter (gender)
pl	=	plural (number)
pret	=	preterite (tense)
prop	=	proper
sfx	=	suffix
str	=	strong (inflection)
trans	=	transitive
vb	=	verb

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)
KSW	=	Gerhard Köbler: Altsächsisches Wörterbuch, 3rd ed. (2000)
LRC	=	Linguistics Research Center, University of Texas, Austin
LS	=	Liddell and Scott: Greek-English Lexicon, 7th-9th ed's (1882-1940), rev.
TLL	=	Frederick Bodmer: The Loom of Language (1944)
W7	=	Webster's Seventh New Collegiate Dictionary (1963)

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