Kuprios

Grammatical information: f.

Meaning: `Cyprus' (Il.)

Dialectal forms: Myc. kupirijo \/ Kuprios\/

Derivatives: Κύπρις, - ιδος, - ιδα, - ιν f. name of Aphrodite (Il.; on the accent Schwyzer 385); Κύπριος `Cyprian' (IA.), Κυπριακός `id.' (D.S.). On PN with Κυπρο-, - κυπρος Κυπρ. Σμουδαί 23 (1964) 3-12.

Origin: XX [etym. unknown]

Etymology: Origin unknown; Lat. LW [loanword] cuprum, older ( aes) cyprium `copper'. The similarity with Sumer. zabar `copper' (prop. "gleaming stone"), from where Assyr. siparru \> Elam. čupar `id.', is accidental, s. Ipsen IF 39, 232 ff. against Pokorny KZ 49, 127, who argues for Caucasian origin. - New attempt by Deroy Mél. Isidore Levy 87 ff. (cf. Krahe Beitr. z. Namenforsch. 7, 103). Neu, Der indogerm. Wortschatz ed. W. Meid, Innsbruck 1987, 181f. (also in Das Hurritische, Wiesbaden 1988, 37) points to Hurr. kab\/pali- from a root kab\/p- `copper' as the poss. origin of the name (but it is remarkable that this word has no -u-); Cyprus was famous in antiquity for its copper. - From Latin originate Fr. cuivre, Eng. copper, Gerrm. Kupfer. - In the Bronze Age the island was called Alas(h)iya; the name lives on in the suername ᾽Αλασιώτης of Apollo.

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