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.
All reflex pages are currently under active construction; as time goes on, corrections may be made and/or more etyma & reflexes may be added.
Pokorny Etymon: kap-ut 'head'
Semantic Field(s): Head
Indo-European Reflexes:
| Family/Language | Reflex(es) | PoS/Gram. | Gloss | Source(s) |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| English | ||||
| Old English: | behēafdian | vb | to behead | AHD |
| h(e)afela, heafola, hafala | n.masc | head | ASD/RPN | |
| hēafod | n | head | RPN | |
| Middle English: | acheven | vb | to achieve | W7 |
| biheden | vb | to behead | AHD | |
| cap | n | cape | W7 | |
| capital | adj/n | capital | W7 | |
| capitane | n | captain | W7 | |
| catel | n | cattle | W7 | |
| chapitre | n | chapter; meeting of canons | W7 | |
| chief | n | chief | W7 | |
| chieftaine | n | chieftain | W7 | |
| courchef | n | kerchief | W7 | |
| hed | n | head | W7 | |
| meschief | n | mischief | W7 | |
| English: | achieve | vb | to accomplish, bring to successful conclusion | AHD/W7 |
| behead | vb | to decapitate, sever head from body | AHD/W7 | |
| biceps | n | muscle having two heads | AHD/W7 | |
| caddie | n | one who waits for odd jobs | AHD/W7 | |
| cadet | n | younger son/brother | AHD/W7 | |
| cape | n | point/peninsula of land jutting into water | AHD/W7 | |
| capital | adj | punishable by death | AHD/W7 | |
| capital | n | stock of accumulated goods | AHD/W7 | |
| capitate | adj | forming a head | AHD/W7 | |
| capitation | n | poll tax, direct personal uniform tax | AHD/W7 | |
| capitellum | n | lower end of humerus | AHD | |
| capitulate | vb.intrans | to parley, negotiate | AHD/W7 | |
| capitulum | n | rounded protuberance of anatomical part | AHD/W7 | |
| capo | n | movable bar attached to fingerboard of fretted instrument | AHD/W9 | |
| capo | n | head of branch of crime syndicate | AHD/W9 | |
| caprice | n | sudden unpredictable turn/change | AHD/W7 | |
| captain | n | commander of military establishment/body of troops | AHD/W7 | |
| cattle | n | domesticated bovine quadrupeds | AHD/W7 | |
| caudillo | n | Spanish/Latin-American strong man | AHD/W7 | |
| chapiter | n | top/capital of column | AHD/W7 | |
| chapter | n | main division of book | AHD/W7 | |
| chef | n | skilled male cook managing kitchen | AHD/W7 | |
| chief | n | upper part of heraldic field | AHD/W7 | |
| chieftain | n | leader of band/clan/tribe | AHD/W7 | |
| corporal | n | enlisted military man of lowest noncommissioned rank | AHD/W7 | |
| decapitate | vb.trans | to behead, cut off head | AHD/W7 | |
| forehead | n | facial part above eyes | AHD/W7 | |
| godhead | n | divinity, divine nature/essence | AHD/W7 | |
| head | n | upper/anterior division of body containing brain and chief sense organs | AHD/W7 | |
| hetman | n | man in charge, lit. head-man | AHD | |
| kerchief | n | cloth square used as head covering/neck scarf | AHD/W7 | |
| meathead | n | dull/stupid person | AHD | |
| mischief | n | damage/injury caused by human agency | AHD/W7 | |
| occiput | n | back part of head/skull | AHD/W7 | |
| precipitate | n | solid substance separated from chemical solution/suspension | AHD/W7 | |
| precipitate | vb | to hurl, throw violently | AHD/W7 | |
| recapitulate | vb | to summarize, repeat briefly | AHD/W7 | |
| sinciput | n | forehead | AHD/W7 | |
| Strawheads | prop.n.pl | Rohirrim a.k.a. Forgoil in Tolkien: The Lord of the Rings | LRC | |
| triceps | n | muscle arising from three heads | AHD/W7 | |
| West Germanic | ||||
| Old Frisian: | hāved, hād | n | head | RPN |
| Dutch: | hoofd | n | head | TLL |
| kapitein | n | captain | TLL | |
| Old Saxon: | hōƀid | n | head | RPN |
| Old High German: | houbit, haupit | n | head | ASD/RPN |
| Middle High German: | houbetman | n.masc | hetman | AHD |
| German: | Hauptmann | n.masc | hetman, captain | AHD |
| Hetmann | n.dial | hetman | AHD | |
| Kapitän | n.masc | captain | LRC | |
| North Germanic | ||||
| Old Norse: | hǫfuð | n.neut | head | LRC |
| Danish: | hoved | n | head | TLL |
| kaptajn | n | captain | TLL | |
| Swedish: | huvud | n | head | TLL |
| kapten | n | captain | TLL | |
| East Germanic | ||||
| Gothic: | haubiþ | n | head | RPN |
| Italic | ||||
| Latin: | biceps | adj | two-headed | W7 |
| capillus | n | single hair on head | TLL | |
| capis, capitis | n | one-handled sacrificial vessel | RPN | |
| capitalis, capitale | adj | re: head | W7 | |
| capitatus | adj | headed | W7 | |
| capitulum | n.neut | chapter, heading | W7 | |
| caput | n.neut | head | RPN | |
| occiput, occipitis | n.neut | the back of the head | W7 | |
| praeceps, praecipitis | n.neut | precipice | W7 | |
| praecipitatum | n.neut | precipitate | W7 | |
| praecipitō, praecipitāre, praecipitāvī, praecipitātus | vb | to precipite | W7 | |
| sinciput, sincipitis | n.neut | half a head, the brain | W7 | |
| triceps, tricipitis | adj | three-headed | W7 | |
| Late Latin: | capitaneus | n.masc | chief | W7 |
| capitatio, capitationis | n.fem | poll tax | W7 | |
| capitellum | n.neut | chapter; heading of colum | W7 | |
| decapitō, decapitāre, decapitāvī, decapitātus | vb | to decapitate | W7 | |
| recapitulo, recapitulare, recapitulavi, recapitulatus | vb | to restate by heads, sum up | W7 | |
| Medieval Latin: | capitale | adj.neut | of one's property, cattle | W7 |
| capitulo, capitulare, capitulavi, capitulatus | vb | to distinguish by heads/chapters | W7 | |
| capitulum | n.neut | chapter, division of a book | W7 | |
| New Latin: | triceps, tricipitis | n.masc | triceps muscle | W7 |
| Portuguese: | cabeça | n | head | TLL |
| cabelo | n | hair | TLL | |
| Spanish: | cabello | n | hair | TLL |
| cabo | n | head | TLL | |
| capítulo | n | chapter | TLL | |
| caudillo | n.masc | guide/trainer in military exercises | W7 | |
| Old French: | chapitle, chapitre | n.masc | chapter | W7 |
| chief | n.masc | head, chief | W7 | |
| covrir | vb | to cover | W7 | |
| cuevrechief | n.masc | hat, head-covering | W7 | |
| meschief | n.masc | calamity | W7 | |
| Old North French: | catel | n.masc | personal property | W7 |
| Middle French: | achever | vb | to finish | W7 |
| cap | n.masc | cape | W7 | |
| capitain | n.masc | captain | W7 | |
| caporal | n.masc | corporal | W7 | |
| chapitre | n.masc | chapter | W7 | |
| chevetain | n.masc | chieftain | W7 | |
| corporal | n.masc | corporal | W7 | |
| French: | cadet | n.masc | military cadet | W7 |
| capital | n.masc | capital | W7 | |
| caprice | n.masc | caprice | W7 | |
| chapitre | n | chapter | TLL | |
| chef | n.masc | leader, professional cook | W7 | |
| cheveu | n | hair | TLL | |
| Old Provençal: | cap | n.masc | head | W7 |
| Old Italian: | capo | n.masc | head | W7 |
| caporale | n.masc | corporal | W7 | |
| Italian: | capello | n | hair | TLL |
| capitale | adj | chief, principal | W7 | |
| capitale | n.masc | capital, fund, stock | W7 | |
| capo | n.masc | head, chief | W7 | |
| capriccio | n.masc | fancy, caprice | W7 | |
| Slavic | ||||
| Polish: | hetman | n | hetman | AHD |
| Ukrainian: | het'man | n | hetman | AHD |
| Indic | ||||
| Sanskrit: | kapā́la-m | n | cup, bowl; skull | RPN |
| kapúcchala-m | n | tuft of hair on back of head | RPN | |
Key to Part-of-Speech/Grammatical feature abbreviations:
| Abbrev. | Meaning | |
|---|---|---|
| adj | = | adjective |
| dial | = | dialectal |
| fem | = | feminine (gender) |
| intrans | = | intransitive |
| masc | = | masculine (gender) |
| n | = | noun |
| neut | = | neuter (gender) |
| pl | = | plural (number) |
| prop | = | proper |
| 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) |
| LRC | = | Linguistics Research Center, University of Texas, Austin |
| RPN | = | Allan R. Bomhard: Reconstructing Proto-Nostratic (2002) |
| TLL | = | Frederick Bodmer: The Loom of Language (1944) |
| W7 | = | Webster's Seventh New Collegiate Dictionary (1963) |
| W9 | = | Webster's Ninth New Collegiate Dictionary (1983) |