kap-

To grasp.

Derivatives include have, heavy, cable, captive, deceive, capsule, and chassis.

I. Basic form *kap-.

1. heddle, from Old English hefeld, thread used for weaving, heddle (a device which grasps the thread), from Germanic *haf-.

2. haft, from Old English hæft, handle, from Germanic *haftjam.

3. Form *kap-o-. have; behave, from Old English habban, to have, hold, from Germanic *habai-, *habēn.

4. heavy, from Old English hefig, heavy, from Germanic *hafigaz, “containing something,” having weight.

5. haven, from Old English hæfen, a haven, from Germanic *hafnō-, perhaps “place that holds ships.”

6. hawk¹, from Old English h(e)afoc, hawk, from Germanic *habukaz.

7. Latin combining form -ceps (< *kap-s), “taker” (see gʷher-, man-², per¹).

8. Probably from this root is Germanic *gaf-, the source of Provençal gafar, to seize: gaff¹.

II. Suffixed form *kap-yo-.

1. heave, heft, from Old English hebban, to lift, from Germanic *hafjan.

2. cable, cacciatore, caitiff, capable, capacious, capias, capstan, caption, captious, captivate, captive, captor, capture, catch, cater, chase¹, cop², copper²; accept, anticipate, catchpole, conceive, deceive, except, inception, incipient, intercept, intussusception, municipal, nuncupative, occupy, participate, perceive, precept, receive, recipe, recover, recuperate, susceptible, from Latin capere, to take, seize, catch.

III. Lengthened-grade variant form *kōp-.

1.

a. behoof, from Old English behōf, use, profit, need;

b. behoove, from Old English behōfian, to have need of. Both a and b from Germanic compound *bi-hōf, “that which binds,” requirement, obligation (*bi-, intensive prefix; see ambhi), from *hōf-.

2. copepod, from Greek kōpē, oar, handle.

 

[Pokorny kap- 527.] Compare ghabh-.

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