ζέω

Word

Validation

No

Word-form

ζῆλος

Word-lemma

LSJ

Etymon-lemma

LSJ

Transliteration (Word)

zēlos

English translation (word)

jealousy, zeal

Transliteration (Etymon)

zeō

English translation (etymon)

to boil

Author

Simplicius

Century

6 AD

Source

Idem

Ref.

Commentarius in Epicteti enchiridion 28

Ed.

I. Hadot, Simplicius Commentaire sur le Manuel d'Épictète [Philosophia Antiqua 66. Leiden-New York-Köln: Brill, 1996]

Quotation

Καὶ γὰρ ὁ μὲν φθόνος λύπη ἐστὶν ἐπ’ ἀλλοτρίῳ ἀγαθῷ, ὁ δὲ ζῆλος ζέουσα θέλησις τοῦ παρισωθῆναι τῷ νομιζομένῳ ἀγαθῷ

Translation (En)

And envy is a sorrow felt about another's qualities, whereas zeal (zēlos) is a burning (zeousa) desire to be similar to the considered qualities

Comment

This etymology is certainly older than Simplicius, as it is probably implicit in Gregory of Nazianzus (see Parallels). It relies on the acrophonic principle, and on the usual alternation between η and ε (τίθημι / τίθεμεν). Zeal is what makes the soul burn to do something, in good part. Greek lexicographers, as usual, started from the Ionic-Attic form and did not take into account the Doric form ζᾶλος, which can of course not be derived from ζέω

Parallels

Etym. Genuinum, zeta 35 (Παρὰ τὸ ζέω καὶ τὸ λίαν γίνεται ζέλος καὶ ζῆλος· θερμὸς γάρ ἐστι λίαν ὁ ζῆλος. Ἢ παρὰ τὸ ζέειν, ὁ φλεγμαίνειν καὶ ἐκκαίεσθαι τὴν ψυχὴν ποιῶν. Ἢ ὁ ζητῶν πρός τινα ἄλλον ζῆν· οἷον, ‘ζηλοῖ δέ τε γείτονα γείτων’ [ed. M.P. Funaioli, Museum Criticum XVIII, 1983, p. 303-312]); Etym. Gudianum, zeta, p. 230-231 (Ζῆλος, ἀπὸ τοῦ ζέω γίνεται ζέλος, καὶ τροπῇ τοῦ ε εἰς η ζῆλος, ὁ ἐκ τῆς ζέσεως τοῦ θυμοῦ γενόμενος. ἢ ἀπὸ τοῦ ζάλη, ζάλος καὶ τροπῇ ζῆλος, ὁ γὰρ ζῆλος ζάλην βάλλει εἰς τὸν ἄνθρωπον); Etym. Magnum, Kallierges, p. 411 (Ζῆλος: Ὁ φθόνος. Παρὰ τὸ ζέω καὶ τὸ λίαν γίνεται ζέλος καὶ ζῆλος· θερμὸς γάρ ἐστι λίαν. Ἢ παρὰ τὸ ζέειν, ὁ φλεγμαίνειν καὶ ἐκκαίεσθαι τὴν ψυχὴν ποιῶν· φλέγει γὰρ ἐν τῷ βάθει. Ἢ ὁ ἐκ τῆς ζέσεως τοῦ θυμοῦ γινόμενος. Ἢ ἀπὸ τοῦ ζάλη, ζάλος καὶ ζῆλος· ὁ γὰρ ζῆλος ζάλην βάλλει εἰς τὸν ἄνθρωπον. Ἢ ὁ ζητῶν πρός τινα ἄλλον ζῆν· οἷον, ‘ζηλοῖ δέ τε γείτονα γείτων’); Ps.-Zonaras, Lexicon, zeta, p. 956 (παρὰ τὸ ζέω καὶ τὸ λίαν γέγονε ζέλος καὶ ζῆλος· ὁ γὰρ ζῆλος θερμός ἐστιν. ἢ παρὰ τὸ ζέειν, ὁ φλεγμαίνειν καὶ ἐκκαίεσθαι τὴν ψυχὴν ἐμποιῶν. ἢ ὁ ζητῶν πρός τινα ἄλλον ζῆν. Ἡσίοδος ‘ζηλοῖ δέ τε γείτονα γείτων’); Scholia in Oppianum, Hal. 1.500 (Οἶστρος· μανία, ζῆλος, φθόνος, ζηλοτυπία ὑπάρχει ἐν ἰχθύσι χάριν τῶν θηλειῶν· ζῆλος παρὰ τὸ λίαν ζέειν ζέλος καὶ ζῆλος· ὁ φλεγμαίνειν καὶ ἐκκαίεσθαι ποιῶν τὴν ψυχήν, ἢ ὁ λῶν ἤτοι θέλων τὸ ζῆν, ὡς Ἡσίοδος (Op. 23) ‘ζηλοῖ δέ τε γείτονα γείτων’).

The etymology is implicit in Christodorus (end of 5th-beginning of 6th c. AD), Anth. Gr. 2, 1, l. 215-216 (Οἰνώνη δὲ χόλῳ φρένας ἔζεεν, ἔζεε πικρῷ | ζήλῳ θυμὸν ἔδουσα,); and probably in Gregory of Nazianzus, Contra Iulianum imperatorem 1, MPG 35, p. 612 (εὐθὺς ἀναπηδήσαντες τοῦ συμποσίου, καθάπερ ἐκμανεῖς καὶ παραπλῆγες, ζήλῳ καὶ θυμῷ ζέοντες, διὰ τῆς ἀγορᾶς θέειν βοῶντες καὶ λέγοντες); idem, Funebris oratio in patrem, MPG 35, p. 1025 (ζέσαντος ἐπ’ αὐτὸν θυμῷ καὶ ζήλῳ περὶ τοῦ ναοῦ τοῦ ἱερέως); idem, De seipso et ad eos qui ipsum cathedram Constantinopolitanam affectare dicebant, MPG 36, p. 268 (Καὶ τοῦτο ἔδειξεν ἡ πρώην γενομένη περὶ ἡμᾶς καινοτομία, ἡνίκα ζήλῳ καὶ θυμῷ ζέσαντες ὑμεῖς ὁ λαὸς)

Modern etymology

Within Greek, ζῆλος belongs with ζητέω "to seek", δίζημαι "to pursue", but the connection was lost in synchrony. PIE root *i̯eh2- "pursue" (Beekes, EDG)

Persistence in Modern Greek

In Modern Greek ζήλος is still used to designqte the fervent derire for realizing something, but also the actions that someone takes in order to achieve a purpose.

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