σήπω (sepo)

Where it lives

Epistula Jeremiae 1 · 7.94/10k
James 1 · 5.85/10k
De aere aquis et locis 3 · 4.05/10k
Shield of Heracles 1 · 3.09/10k
Job 4 · 3/10k
Fragments 1 · 2.51/10k
Libation Bearers 1 · 1.86/10k
Electra 1 · 1.32/10k
Knights 1 · 1.13/10k
On Hunting 1 · 1.1/10k
Phaedo 2 · 0.92/10k
Timaeus 2 · 0.85/10k

Densest 12 of 22 attested works shown, by occurrences per 10,000 attested tokens.

What it meant

σήπω · sēpō — LSJ

make rotten, putrid

make rotten or putrid, A. Fr. l.c.; of a serpentʼs poison, A. Ch. l.c.; of the sting of the σήψ, Ael. NA 16.40.

b soak

soak hides, δέρματα σ. Supp.Epigr. 3.18 (Athens, v B.C.).

2 corrupt, waste

metaph., corrupt, waste, αἱ ἡσυχίαι σήπουσι καὶ ἀπολλύασι Pl. Tht. 153c; σ. τὰ τῆς πόλεως πράγματα D.H. 11.37.

II rot, moulder

mostly in Pass. (pf. σέσηπα being used in pass. sense, Il. 2.135, E. El. 319, (κατα-) Ar. Pl. 1035, (ἀπο-) X. An. 4.5.12), fut. σᾰπήσομαι Gal. 7.397, (κατα-) Pl. Phd. 86b, (ἀπο-) Hp. Prorrh. 2.1: aor. ἐσάπην [ᾰ] Hes. Sc. 152, Hdt. 2.41, 3.66, Pl. Phd. 80d; σαπήῃ (κατα-), Ep. subj. for σαπῇ, Il. 19.27: pf. σέσημμαι prob. in POxy. 1449.51 (iii A.D.):—rot, moulder, of dead bodies, χρὼς σήπεται Il. 24.414, cf. 19.27, Hdt. 2.41; περὶ ῥινοῖο σαπείσης Hes. Sc. 152; of wood, δοῦρα σέσηπε Il. 2.135; τριή

2 mortify, promote coction

of live flesh, mortify, ὁ μηρὸς ἐσάπη Hdt. 3.66; σφακελίσαντος τοῦ μηροῦ καὶ σαπέντος Id. 6.136, cf. Pl. Phd. 80d; αἷμα σέσηπεν E. El. 319; promote coction or formation of ‘laudable’ pus, in Act., Hp. Morb. 1.6, 28.

3

of water, Id. Aër. 8; οἶνος . . σαπὲν ἐν ξύλῳ ὕδωρ Emp. 81.

4

of the food rejected after digestion, Arist. Mete. 381b12, al.; cf. σηπτός, σῆψις II.

5

metaph., σ. ὑπὸ τῆς ἡδονῆς Men. 23; ὁ πλοῦτος ὑμῶν σέσηπε Ep.Jac. 5.2.

In the wild

σήπειν · sēpein Aeschylus, Libation Bearers 994–996
σαπεῖςʼ · sapeisʼ Aristophanes, Knights (DIORISIS sentence 943)
σαπῇ · sapēi Epictetus, Fragments 0 (DIORISIS sentence 48)
σέσηπεν · sesēpen Euripides, Electra (DIORISIS sentence 174)
σαπῇ · sapēi Herodotus, Histories 2.41.4 (DIORISIS sentence 1830)
ἐσάπη · esapē Herodotus, Histories 3.66.2 (DIORISIS sentence 3367)

6 of 37 attestations shown. Ask for more.

Where it came from

No etymology authority pointer is recorded for this lemma yet — an honest gap, not an omission. The etymological dictionaries (Beekes, Chantraine, Frisk) are matched incrementally.

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