τρέπω

From Proto-Indo-European *trep- (“to turn”). The usual connection with Latin torqueō is, according to Beekes, untenable. Instead, to be compared with Latin trepit (“turns”, verb), Sanskrit त्रपते (trápate, “feels ashamed, becomes timid or perplexed”) and Hittite 𒋼𒊑𒅁𒍣 (te-ri-ip-zi /⁠tereppt͡si⁠/, “ploughs”, verb).

τρέπω • (trépō)

1. turn, divert, turn back, rout an enemy
   • 800 BCE – 600 BCE, Homer, Iliad 5.184:

     εἰ δ’ ὅ γ’ ἀνὴρ ὅν φημι δαΐφρων Τυδέος υἱὸς οὐχ ὅ γ’ ἄνευθε θεοῦ τάδε μαίνεται, ἀλλά τις ἄγχι ἕστηκ’ ἀθανάτων νεφέλῃ εἰλυμένος ὤμους, ὃς τούτου βέλος ὠκὺ κιχήμενον ἔτραπεν ἄλλῃ.

     ei d’ hó g’ anḕr hón phēmi daḯphrōn Tudéos huiòs oukh hó g’ áneuthe theoû táde maínetai, allá tis ánkhi héstēk’ athanátōn nephélēi eiluménos ṓmous, hòs toútou bélos ōkù kikhḗmenon étrapen állēi.

     • Translation by Buckley

       But if this man, whom I speak of, be the warlike son of Tydeus, he does not perform these frantic deeds without divine aid, but some one of the immortals stands near, wrapped round as to his shoulders in a cloud, who has turned into another course the swift shaft just about to hit him.

2. to change someone's mind; (middle voice) to change one's own mind
   • 800 BCE – 600 BCE, Homer, Iliad 10.43:

     χρεὼ βουλῆς ἐμὲ καὶ σὲ διοτρεφὲς ὦ Μενέλαε κερδαλέης, ἥ τίς κεν ἐρύσσεται ἠδὲ σαώσει Ἀργείους καὶ νῆας, ἐπεὶ Διὸς ἐτράπετο φρήν.

     khreṑ boulês emè kaì sè diotrephès ô Menélae kerdaléēs, hḗ tís ken erússetai ēdè saṓsei Argeíous kaì nêas, epeì Diòs etrápeto phrḗn.

     O Jove-nurtured Menelaus, need of prudent counsel comes upon both thee and me, which will protect and preserve the Greeks and their ships, since the mind of Jove is altered.

3. to rotate something, change its orientation; (middle voice) turn around, rotate oneself
   • 800 BCE – 600 BCE, Homer, Iliad 13.3:

     πάλιν τρέπεν ὄσσε φαεινώ

     pálin trépen ósse phaeinṓ

     turned his shining eyes back

4. (passive voice) to wander, not go in a straight line
   • 800 BCE – 600 BCE, Homer, Odyssey 15.80:

     τραφθῆναι ἀν’ Ἑλλάδα

     traphthênai an’ Helláda

The passive sense is usually expressed using the middle voice, more rarely in the passive (but ἐτράπην (etrápēn) is used for "to be routed" in Aeschylus, Persians, 1029).

800 BCE – 600 BCE, Homer, Iliad 11.231:

ὅς ῥα τότ’ Ἀτρεΐδεω Ἀγαμέμνονος ἀντίον ἦλθεν. οἱ δ’ ὅτε δὴ σχεδὸν ἦσαν ἐπ’ ἀλλήλοισιν ἰόντες, Ἀτρεΐδης μὲν ἅμαρτε, παραὶ δέ οἱ ἐτράπετ’ ἔγχος

hós rha tót’ Atreḯdeō Agamémnonos antíon êlthen. hoi d’ hóte dḕ skhedòn êsan ep’ allḗloisin ióntes, Atreḯdēs mèn hámarte, paraì dé hoi etrápet’ énkhos

• Translation by Buckley

  When these, advancing against each other, were now near, the son of Atreus on his part missed, and his spear was turned aside

There is no clear difference in meaning between the first and second aorists.

→ English:

• Beekes, Robert S. P. (2010) “τρέπω”, in Etymological Dictionary of Greek (Leiden Indo-European Etymological Dictionary Series; 10), with the assistance of Lucien van Beek, Leiden, Boston: Brill, →ISBN, pages 1503–1504
• Kloekhorst, Alwin (2008) “terepp-^zi / tere/ipp-”, in Etymological Dictionary of the Hittite Inherited Lexicon (Leiden Indo-European Etymological Dictionary Series; 5), Leiden, Boston: Brill, →ISBN, pages 871–872
• “τρέπω”, in Liddell & Scott (1940) A Greek–English Lexicon, Oxford: Clarendon Press
• “τρέπω”, in Liddell & Scott (1889) An Intermediate Greek–English Lexicon, New York: Harper & Brothers
• “τρέπω”, in Autenrieth, Georg (1891) A Homeric Dictionary for Schools and Colleges, New York: Harper and Brothers
• τρέπω in Bailly, Anatole (1935) Le Grand Bailly: Dictionnaire grec-français, Paris: Hachette
• τρέπω in Cunliffe, Richard J. (1924) A Lexicon of the Homeric Dialect: Expanded Edition, Norman: University of Oklahoma Press, published 1963
• “τρέπω”, in Slater, William J. (1969) Lexicon to Pindar, Berlin: Walter de Gruyter

Learned borrowing from Ancient Greek τρέπω.

• IPA^(key): /ˈtre.po/
• Hyphenation: τρέ‧πω

τρέπω • (trépo) (past έτρεψα, passive τρέπομαι)

1. to divert, convert

   τρέπομαι σε φυγή ― trépomai se fygí ― I flee, run away

   τράπηκε σε φυγή ― trápike se fygí ― S/he fled

   ετράπη εις φυγήν (in ancient fashion) ― etrápi eis fygín ― S/he fled

2. to turn, veer

• ανατρέπω (anatrépo, “to thwart, to overturn”)
• αποτρέπω (apotrépo, “to avert, to dissuade”)
• παρεκτρέπομαι (parektrépomai, “to misbehave”)
• μετατρέπω (metatrépo, “to transform, to convert”)
• επιτρέπω (epitrépo, “to allow”)
• προτρέπω (protrépo, “to incite, to encourage”)