κίδαφος

• κίνδαφιος (kíndaphios), σκίνδαφος (skíndaphos)

According to Beekes the adjectival usage is secondary and the main usage for the word was as an animal name meaning "fox" and due to all the variations of the word he supports that it is a word of Pre-Greek origin. However, it also matches the Semitic root כ־ד־ב (k-ḏ-b) / ك ذ ب (k-ḏ-b) (Hebrew כ־ז־ב (k-z-b)) related to lies, most closely in Aramaic כַּדָּבָא (kaddāḇā, “frequently lying”) and in Arabic كَذَّاب (kaḏḏāb, “frequently lying”). In the latter case, the word is a doublet of κίβδηλος (kíbdēlos, “deceitful; fake”) in case that term is also of the same origin and not of Pre-Greek origin, contrary to what is suggested by Beekes.

κίδαφος • (kídaphos) m (feminine κιδάφη, neuter κίδαφον); first/second declension

1. wily, cunning, sly

• κιδαφεύω (kidapheúō)

• “κίδαφος”, in Liddell & Scott (1940) A Greek–English Lexicon, Oxford: Clarendon Press
• Beekes, Robert S. P. (2010) Etymological Dictionary of Greek (Leiden Indo-European Etymological Dictionary Series; 10), with the assistance of Lucien van Beek, Leiden, Boston: Brill, →ISBN
• Szemerényi, Oswald (1974) “The origins of the Greek lexicon: Ex Oriente Lux”, in The Journal of Hellenic Studies‎, volume 94, →DOI, pages 155–156