Claudius

🏷  Greek Latin Semitic hidden ruler pun · name   —   by Gerry · Sep 2020 · 238 words

The very common Roman name Claudius puns with Greek κλειδος kleidos for “lock” & “key”, which is found in the Semitic languages as קלד qld for “locked up” & “disappeared”, and as קלט qlṭ for “protection” & “shelter”. The name would befit any spook whose true heritage is “locked up” & “sheltered” from public view.

This word root seems to have gone back & forth between all Mediterranean languages. Judging from the attested meanings, my best guess is that qlṭ is the original Semitic form, which was loaned into Greek, and then back as qld.

This pun may also explain the Greek name Euclid.

Greek, Semitic kleidos, qld, qlṭ = key, bolt, locked with key, disappear

קלד qld : to lock up, insert the key; to be swallowed up, disappear — Hebrew (Jastrow)

קלד qld : to disappear — Aramaic (CAL)

קלט qlṭ : to offer refuge; to absorb; to clutch, snatch; to hold in a sacred area; hidden away — Aramaic (CAL)

קלט qlṭ : to close; to clutch, intercept, receive; to absorb; to offer an asylum, protect; to retain — Hebrew (Jastrow)

קולד qwld : bolt; bolt — Aramaic (CAL)

קלד qld : to open; he opened with a key; from Greek kleis, gen. kleidos (= key) — Hebrew (Klein)

إِقْلِيد ˀqlyd ˀiqlīd : key; from Aramaic אַקְלִידָא‎ /‎ ܐܩܠܝܕܐ‎ (ˀaqlīdā, “key”) from Ancient Greek κλεῖδα (kleîda), accusative singular of κλείς (kleís, “key”) — Arabic (Wikt)

κλείς ; κλειδός kleis; kleidos : something used to lock/unlock: key, bolt, bar — Ancient Greek (Wikt)

🏷  Greek Latin Semitic hidden ruler pun · name