δέομαι
Word
Validation
Yes
Word-form
δέμας
Word-lemma
Etymon-lemma
Transliteration (Word)
demas
English translation (word)
bodily frame
Transliteration (Etymon)
deomai
English translation (etymon)
to lack
Century
12 AD
Source
Idem
Ref.
Etymologicum Symeonis, delta 121
Ed.
D. Baldi, Etymologicum Symeonis (Γ—Ε) [Corpus Christianorum. Series Graeca 79], Turnhout: Brepols, 2013
Quotation
Δέμας· τὸ σῶμα· παρὰ τὸ δέω τὸ δεσμεύω, τῇ γὰρ ψυχῇ συνδέδεται τὸ σῶμα. Ἢ παρὰ τὸ δεμῶ δέμας· περιδόμημα γάρ ἐστιν τῆς ψυχῆς τὸ σῶμα καὶ οἰκητήριον· τὸ δὲ νεκρὸν ἀπὸ τοῦ δέεσθαι αἵματος
Translation (En)
Demas "bodily frame": from deō "to bind", because the body is bound with the soul. Or from demō "to build", because the body is the house of the soul and its dwelling place. And said about the corpse, it comes from deesthai "to lack" blood
Modern etymology
Probably from root *dem- "to build" and related to δέμω "to build", δόμος "house" (Beekes, EDG)
Persistence in Modern Greek
The word does not survive in Modern Greek
Entry By
Le Feuvre
Comment
On the notion of complementary etymology and the distinction between living bodies and dead bodies, see δέμας / δαμάζω. The principle here is identical, but the etymology relies on the physiological fact that there is no more blood circulation in a dead body – although blood circulation was not understood in Antiquity