Etymograph

English

peplos

Peplos comes from Ancient Greek πέπλος ‘any woven cloth used for a covering, sheet,…’, and perhaps goes back to Proto-Indo-European *pel- ‘to fold’.

  1. Proto-Indo-Europeanc. 4500–2500 BCE*pel-1‘to fold’uncertain
  2. Ancient Greekc. 800–300 BCEπέπλος2‘any woven cloth used for a covering, sheet, carpet, curtain, veil’
  3. Englishearliest quotation 1990peplos2

attested reconstructed ? uncertain or disputed deepest recorded ancestor

  1. 1 Wiktionary, Ancient Greek πέπλος
  2. 2 Wiktionary, English peplos
  3. Earliest quotation in Wiktionary’s entry: 1990, David Martin Halperin, John J. Winkler: “An obvious question arises: what on earth can Herakles…”.

Lineage

  1. Proto-Indo-Europeanc. 4500–2500 BCE*pel-Wiktionary, Ancient Greek πέπλος‘to fold’uncertain
  2. Ancient Greekc. 800–300 BCEπέπλοςWiktionary, English peplos‘any woven cloth used for a covering, sheet, carpet, curtain, veil’
  3. Englishearliest quotation 1990peplosWiktionary, English peplos. Earliest quotation in Wiktionary’s entry: 1990, David Martin Halperin, John J. Winkler: “An obvious question arises: what on earth can Herakles…”

Linked words

through Proto-Indo-European *pel- ‘to fold’

film, felt, simple, simply, push, filter, powder, fold, pulse, complain, pillow, flaw, pollen, repeal, palate, compulsive, palpable, palladium, palatable, expel, pall, propel, repel, polemic, pelt, wallow, pollinate, palatal, peloton, muffle, pulver, tuple, palp, pillion, apoplexy, interpolate, 62 more

through Ancient Greek πέπλος ‘any woven cloth used for a covering, sheet,…’

peplum, 2 more

Today it means

noun An Ancient Greek garment, worn by women, formed of a tubular piece of cloth, which is folded back upon itself halfway down, until the top of the tube is worn around the waist, and the bottom covers the legs down to the ankles; the open top is then worn over the shoulders, and draped, in folds, down to the waist.

Sources

Sources: Wiktionary, “peplos”; the older steps come from the Wiktionary entry for Ancient Greek πέπλος. By Wiktionary contributors, CC BY-SA 4.0, via kaikki.org (dump of Oct 3 2026); text adapted and restructured. Language periods are conventional ranges, not dates for this word. License.

Etymograph / Proto-Indo-European *pel- / peplos

Shirt and support for this word