σκέπας

Ancient Greek

Etymology

Unknown. Although σκέπω (sképō, to cover, shelter) seems primary at first sight, it is attested only late, which may indicate that it should rather be interpreted as a back-formation from the denominative verb σκεπάζω (skepázō) or from σκέπη (sképē). Although the stem looks Indo-European and could be projected back to a pre-form *skep-, no good cognates are known. Only some Balto-Slavic forms like Lithuanian kepùre and Proto-Slavic *čepьcь (bonnet) may be connected, although these reflect an s-less stem *kep-.

Pronunciation

 

Noun

σκέπᾰς • (sképăsn (genitive σκέπᾰος); third declension

  1. covering, shelter
    Synonym: σκέπη (sképē)

Inflection

Further reading