Learn Greek › B1 › κόλπα
κόλπα
tricks (schemes, ploys) /ˈkolpa/
nounB1#1562 most common
Also: scams, gimmicks, shenanigans
Example sentences
Ο σκύλος μου ξέρει πολλά κόλπα.
My dog knows a lot of tricks.
Ο μάγος μάς έδειξε ένα νέο κόλπο.
The magician showed us a new trick.
Μην προσπαθείς να μου κάνεις κόλπα.
Don't try to pull tricks on me.
Ο πωλητής χρησιμοποιεί φτηνά κόλπα για να πουλήσει τα προϊόντα του.
The salesman uses cheap tricks to sell his products.
Στην πολιτική, πολλοί καταφεύγουν σε κόλπα για να κερδίσουν ψήφους.
In politics, many resort to tricks to win votes.
Τα κόλπα που έστησε η εταιρεία για να αποφύγει τους φορολογικούς ελέγχους αποκαλύφθηκαν μετά από μήνες έρευνας.
The schemes the company set up to dodge tax audits were revealed after months of investigation.
Declension
| Case | Singular | Plural |
|---|---|---|
| Nominative | κόλπο | κόλπα |
| Genitive | κόλπου | κόλπων |
| Accusative | κόλπο | κόλπα |
| Vocative | κόλπο | κόλπα |
Word family
κόλποa trick, a ploy (singular)
κολπατζήςa con artist, a trickster (slang)
κάνω κόλπαto pull tricks, to scheme
Etymology
Κόλπο entered Greek from Italian colpo, meaning a blow or a stroke, during the long centuries of Venetian presence in the Aegean and Ionian islands. Italian colpo itself descends from Latin colaphus, a blow with the fist, a word the Romans had borrowed from Ancient Greek κόλαφος. So the root left Greek in antiquity, picked up the sense of a clever or sudden move in Italian, and came back into Modern Greek meaning a trick or a scheme. Κόλπα is just the neuter plural of κόλπο.
Learn Greek the way that sticks.
Every word here is a full Polylex card with native audio and spaced repetition, so 3,509 words actually move into long-term memory.
Start free
Every word here is a full Polylex card with native audio and spaced repetition, so 3,509 words actually move into long-term memory.
Start free