ζάω + λῶ

Validation

No

Word-form

ζῆλος

Transliteration (Word)

zēlos

English translation (word)

jealousy, zeal

Transliteration (Etymon)

zaō + lō

English translation (etymon)

to live + to wish

Author

Scholia in Oppianum

Source

Idem

Ref.

Scholia in Oppianum, Hal. 1.500

Ed.

U.C. Bussemaker, Scholia et paraphrases in Nicandrum et Oppianum in Scholia in Theocritum (ed. F. Dübner), Paris: Didot, 1849

Quotation

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’

Translation (En)

Oistros “gadfly": madness, jealousy, envy, rivalry exist in fish because of the females. Zēlos "jealousy" comes from "to boil" (zein) much (lian), *zelos and zēlos, that which causes the soul to burn and inflame; or the one who wishes (lôn), that is, desires, to live (zên), as Hesiod ‘and the neighbor envies the neighbour’

Comment

In this etymology coming from a specific context (a line of Hesiod), apparently the word is parsed as a compound, "he who wishes to live <as someone else>", the meaningful part as far as jealousy is concerned being left implicit, as the gloss gives only two etymons, λῶ and ζῆν. The formulation, because it was not clear, was expanded in other sources (πρός τινα ἄλλον ζῆν "live like someone else"), but in the course of time it suffered an alteration: λῶν "wishing" was replaced by ζητῶν "seeking", which makes the etymology ununderstandable after the loss of the etymon supposedly accounting for -λος.

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. 231 (ζῆλος δ’ ἀνθρώποισιν ὀϊζυροῖσιν ἅπασι, παρὰ τὸ ζεῖν, ὁ φλεγμαίνειν καὶ ἐγκαίεσθαι τὴν ψυχὴν ποιῶν, ἢ ὁ ζητῶν πρός τι εἶναι καλὸν ζῆν); 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’)

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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