ζάω
Word
Validation
Word-form
Word-lemma
Etymon-lemma
Transliteration (Word)
English translation (word)
Transliteration (Etymon)
English translation (etymon)
Century
Source
Ref.
Ed.
Quotation
Ζῶον. ἀπὸ τοῦ ζῆν καὶ τῆς ἐν ἡμῖν ζήσεως τοῦ θερμοῦ
Translation (En)
Zōon "animal". From the fact that it lives (zên) and that heat boils in us
Parallels
Orion, Etymologicum (excerpta e cod. Darmstadino 2773), zeta, p. 613 (ζῶον, ἀπὸ τῆς ἐν ἡμῖν ζέσεως τοῦ θερμοῦ); Damascius, De principiis 1, 211 (εἰ γὰρ καὶ ὁ κόσμος ἀφ’ ἑνὸς ὠνόμασται χαρακτῆρος, τοῦ κεκοσμημένου, καὶ ἡ ζωὴ τοίνυν ἀπὸ τοῦ ζεῖν τε καὶ ἀναζεῖν εἰς διάκρισιν, πάντα δὲ ὅμως ἐστίν, ὥστε καὶ τὸ ζῷον ἀπὸ τοῦ μετέχειν ζωῆς τε καὶ ζέσεώς τινος); Etym. Guduanim, zeta, p. 234 (Ζῶον, τὸ γενικὸν ὄνομα, παρὰ τὸ ζῶ, τὸ τοῦ ζῆν δεκτικὸν, τὸ ζῶον ἔχον ἢ ζέσιν ἔχον καὶ θερμότητα, πρὸς ἀντιδιαστολὴν τῶν μὴ ζώων. ὅθεν καὶ ζεστὸν ἄνθρωπον φαμὲν τὸν εὐκίνητον καὶ θερμόν); ibid., zeta, p. 234 (Ζῶον, ἀπὸ τοῦ ζῶ ῥήματος γέγονε ζῶον, διὰ τὸ ἐκ ζωῆς ὄν); Etym. Magnum, Kallierges, p. 413 (Τὸ γενικὸν ὄνομα, παρὰ τὸ ζῶ, τὸ τοῦ ζῆν δεκτικόν. Ἢ ἀπὸ τῆς ζωῆς, τὸ ζωὴν ἔχον, ἢ ζέσιν ἔχον καὶ θερμότητα, πρὸς ἀντιδιαστολὴν τῶν μὴ ζωῶν· ὅθεν καὶ ζεστὸν ἄνθρωπον φαμὲν, τὸν εὐκίνητον καὶ θερμόν)
Comment
The etymology relating ζῷον, ζωή and ζῆν is of course much older than Orion, but not explicit before. The interesting point is that, as is the case for ζωή, the semantic justification in fact relates ζῷον not to its direct etymon ζῆν, but to the etymon of the latter, ζέω "to boil", putting forward the notion of heat. See ζωή / ζέω