ψύχω
Word
Validation
Word-form
Word-lemma
Etymon-lemma
Transliteration (Word)
English translation (word)
Transliteration (Etymon)
English translation (etymon)
Century
Source
Ref.
Ed.
Quotation
θάτερον τῶν ἐναντίων τίθεται Ἵππων καὶ Ἡράκλειτος, ὁ μὲν τὸ θερμόν· πῦρ γὰρ τὴν ἀρχὴν εἶναι· ὁ δὲ τὸ ψυχρόν, ὕδωρ τιθέμενος τὴν ἀρχήν. ἑκάτερος οὖν τούτων, φησί, καὶ ἐτυμολογεῖν ἐπιχειρεῖ τὸ τῆς ψυχῆς ὄνομα πρὸς τὴν οἰκείαν δόξαν, ὁ μὲν λέγων διὰ τοῦτο ζῆν λέγεσθαι τὰ ἔμψυχα παρὰ τὸ ζεῖν, τοῦτο δὲ τοῦ θερμοῦ, ὁ δὲ ψυχὴν κεκλῆσθαι ἐκ τοῦ ψυχροῦ, ὅθεν ἔχει τὸ εἶναι, παρὰ τὸ αἰτίαν ἡμῖν γενέσθαι τῆς διὰ τῆς ἀναπνοῆς ψύξεως
Translation (En)
Hippo and Heraclitus each retain one of the two opposites: for the first, hot, because fire is the first principle; for the other, cold, by making water the first principle. Each of them, he [=Aristotle] says, tries to interpret the origin of the word to coincide with their own doctrine, the first one maintaining that it is the reason why we say that the animated beings "live" (zēn), from "boil" (zein), that is to say by heat; the other one says that the "soul" (psukhē) draws its name from the "cold" (psukhros), from which it draws its existence, insofar as the cold is for us the cause of cooling (psuxis) through the breathing
Parallels
Plato, Cratylus 399d-e (Ὡς μὲν τοίνυν ἐκ τοῦ παραχρῆμα λέγειν, οἶμαί τι τοιοῦτον νοεῖν τοὺς τὴν ψυχὴν ὀνομάσαντας, ὡς τοῦτο ἄρα, ὅταν παρῇ τῷ σώματι, αἴτιόν ἐστι τοῦ ζῆν αὐτῷ, τὴν τοῦ ἀναπνεῖν δύναμιν παρέχον καὶ <ἀναψῦχον>, ἅμα δὲ ἐκλείποντος τοῦ ἀναψύχοντος τὸ σῶμα ἀπόλλυταί τε καὶ τελευτᾷ· ὅθεν δή μοι δοκοῦσιν αὐτὸ “ψυχὴν” καλέσαι); Arist., De anima, 405b 25-30 (οἱ δὲ θάτερον τῶν ἐναντίων, οἷον θερμὸν ἢ ψυχρὸν ἤ τι τοιοῦτον ἄλλο, καὶ τὴν ψυχὴν ὁμοίως ἕν τι τούτων τιθέασιν. Διὸ καὶ τοῖς ὀνόμασιν ἀκολουθοῦσιν, οἱ μὲν τὸ θερμὸν λέγοντες, ὅτι διὰ τοῦτο καὶ τὸ ζῆν ὠνόμασται, οἱ δὲ τὸ ψυχρόν, <διὰ τὸ> διὰ τὴν ἀναπνοὴν καὶ τὴν κατάψυξιν καλεῖσθαι ψυχήν); Chrysipp., SVF, 807, p. 223 Von Arnim (τὴν δὲ ψυχὴν λέγουσιν ἀθάνατον εἶναι, σῶμα δέ, καὶ γενέσθαι ἐκ τῆς περιψύξεως τοῦ ἀέρος τοῦ περιέχοντος, διὸ καὶ καλεῖσθαι ψυχήν); idem, fr. 808 Arnim, ap. Origenes, De principiis II, p. 96 (ψυχὴν παρὰ τὴν ψύξιν); Philo Judaeus, De somniis 1.31 (διότι καὶ παρὰ τὴν ψῦξιν ὠνομάσθαι ψυχὴ δοκεῖ); Plutarch, De Stoicorum repugnantiis 1052f (ὅθεν οὐκ ἀπὸ τρόπου τὴν ψυχὴν ὠνομάσθαι παρὰ τὴν ψῦξιν); Origenes, Fragmenta de principiis 23b (Παρὰ τὴν ἀπόπτωσιν καὶ τὴν ψῦξιν τὴν ἀπὸ τοῦ ζῆν τῷ πνεύματι γέγονεν ἡ νῦν λεγομένη ψυχή,); Themistius, In Aristotelis libros de anima paraphrasis, vol. 5, 3, p. 14 (οἱ μὲν τὸ θερμὸν λέγοντες ὅτι καὶ τὸ ζῆν παρὰ τὸ ζεῖν ὠνομάσθη, οἱ δὲ τὸ ψυχρὸν ὅτι καὶ τοὔνομα τῆς ψυχῆς ἐντεῦθεν); Iamblichus, De anima 8 (Τινὲς δὲ τῶν φυσικῶν σύνοδον τῶν ἐναντίων συνυφαίνουσιν, οἷον θερμοῦ καὶ <ψυχροῦ>, ξηροῦ καὶ ὑγροῦ. Καὶ γὰρ τὸ ζῆν ἀπὸ τοῦ ἀναζεῖν ὑπὸ τοῦ θερμοῦ καὶ τὴν ψυχὴν ἀπὸ τοῦ ἀναψύχεσθαι ὑπὸ τοῦ ψυχροῦ ὠνομάσθαι ἀποφαίνονται, καὶ ἅμα ἐπ’ ἀμφοτέρων <...> ἢ τὸν ἀναπνεόμενον ἀέρα ψυχὴν νομίζουσιν); Stobaeus, Anthologium 1.49.32 (idem); Scholia vetera in Euripidem, in Hec. 21 (ἡ ψύχη ἐτυμολογεῖται παρὰ τὸ ψύχω τὸ ζωογονῶ, τὸ ζωογονοῦν τὸ σῶμα); Etym. Magnum, Kallierges p. 819, 31-35 (Παρὰ τὸ ψύχος, ὃ ἔστι πνεῦμα. […]Ἢ παρὰ τὸ ψύχω, τὸ ζωογονῶ, φυσιοχή τις οὖσα, ἡ τὴν φύσιν συνέχουσα. Ἔστι δὲ ὄνομα προσηγορικόν); Gennadius Scholarius, Translatio commentarii Thomae Aquinae De anima Aristotelis 1.5 (Οἱ γὰρ λέγοντες τὴν ψυχὴν ἐκ τῆς φύσεως τοῦ θερμοῦ παρονομάζουσιν αὐτὴν ἀπὸ τοῦ ζῆν, ὃ παρωνόμασται πάλιν ἀπὸ τοῦ ζέειν, ὅπερ ἐστὶ τὸ θερμὸν εἶναι. Οἱ δὲ λέγοντες τὴν ψυχὴν ἐκ τῆς φύσεως τοῦ ψυχροῦ παρωνόμαζον αὐτὴν ἀπὸ ψυχροῦ ψυχὴν διὰ τὴν κατάψυξιν, ἥτις σῴζει τὸ ζῷον ἐκ τῆς ἀναπνοῆς)
Bibliography
E. Benveniste, "Grec ψυχή", BSL 33, 1932, p.165-168 ; Peter-Arnold Mumm and Susanne Richter, International Journal of Diachronic Linguistics and Linguistic Reconstruction 5, 2008, p.33-108 (against the generally accepted idea that ψυχρός "cold" is a secondary meaning)
Comment
Old etymology (which is correct by modern standards) which remained in favor throughout Antiquity. Contrary to what Philopon writes, Aristotle does not mention the etymological argument in the corresponding passage of De Anima (1.2 405b), where he mentions the conception of the two authors. The information may well have come to Philopon through the numerous scholia or commentaries on Aristotle's text