EN
In the modern Ukrainian language, the word halepa (халепа) belongs to the active vocabulary but its etymology remains unknown. The most common version of the origin of the word halepa is from the Greek χᾰλεπός. The purpose of this article is to try to suggest an alternative etymology based on the linguistic and ethno-cultural data from the Balkan Slavs. As a starting point, we take the outdated meaning of the word halepa — ‘bad weather’ — and project it onto its South Slavic demonological character, (h)ala.