Since when is l'chapes a new form, and since when does it mean "to disguise"? It's an old form (first mention: B'reishit 44:12), and it means "to search."
reika | 02.28.06 - 8:41 pm | #

I meant to say that l'chapes meaning "to disguise" or "to dress in costume" is recent. Of course the meaning "to search" goes very far back.
Dave | Homepage | 02.28.06 - 10:04 pm | #

You won't find this word in most dictionaries (I saw it in the game "Balderdash"), but the English word "passick," which has practically the same letters as 'chipus', means search.
Phil | 03.07.06 - 8:58 am | #

I enjoy the game Balderdash, and this isn't the first time I haven't been able to find anything online about one of the words in the game. I wonder where they get these words?
Dave | Homepage | 03.07.06 - 10:19 am | #

Re chapes: The ideas of costume and disguise
Latvian ģērbs, ģē(r)bs = garb (costume)
Latvian ieģērbs viz. pārģērbs = disguise
If related, the soft R has been lost

Re chipus: The idea of search
Latvian čabēšana "to rustle, steal about, hunt about", i.e. the idea of moving or searching stealthily, whence the cognate
Latvian čības "slippers"

Re: The Aramaic meaning of "dig"
Latvian ķepas "paws"
Latvian ķipis "dipper, scoop"

Source for the Latvian terms, The Latvian-English Dictionary by Turikina
Andis Kaulins | Homepage | 12.18.06 - 8:54 pm | #