σῶς + αἷμα

Validation

Yes

Word-form

σῶμα

Transliteration (Word)

sōma

English translation (word)

body

Transliteration (Etymon)

sōs + haima

English translation (etymon)

safe and sound + blood

Author

Orion

Century

5 AD

Source

Idem

Ref.

Etymologicum (excerpta e cod. regio 2610) p. 183, l. 15

Ed.

G.H.K. Koës, Orionis Thebani etymologicon (ed. F.G. Sturz), Leipzig: Weigel, 1820 (repr. Hildesheim: Olms, 1973): 173-184

Quotation

Σῶμα· διὰ τὸ σῶον αἷμα

Translation (En)

Sōma "body": because blood (haima) is safe (sōon)

Comment

The word is parsed as a compound of "safe" and "blood": in an unharmed body blood is "safe". This etymology pairs with the one through σῶς (see σῶμα / σῶς) within the opposition between compositional etymology and derivational etymology. In the compositional etymology, αἷμα accounts for the second syllable of the lemma, which is left unaccounted for in the derivational etymology.

Parallels

Anastasius Sin., Viae dux 2, 8, l. 20-21 (σῶμα, *σῶ αἷμα, σῶον αἷμα ἐν τῷ ἅμα <εἶναι τὰ μέλη>); Etym. Gudianum, sigma, p. 520 (Σῶμα, διὰ τὸ σῶον ἅμα σὺν αἵματι ὄν· σῶον αἷμα· ἐν τῷ ἅμα εἶναι τὰ μέρη); ibid. p. 520 (Σῶμα, διὰ τὸ σῶον αἷμα καὶ ἅμα· ἢ παρὰ τὸ σῆμα, ὃ σημαίνει τὸν τάφον, κατὰ τὸν Πλάτωνα, τάφος γάρ ἐστι τὸ σῶμα τῆς ψυχῆς· δικὴν γὰρ τάφου ἐνθάπτεται ἡ ψυχὴ τῷ σώματι· τροπῇ τοῦ μακροῦ εἰς μακρὸν γίνεται σῶμα); Etym. Magnum, Kallierges p. 742, l. 19 (Σῶμα: Οἱονεὶ δῶμα ὂν τῆς ψυχῆς· ὅθεν καὶ σκήνωμα πᾶν τὸ τεθνηκός. Εἴρηται δὲ σῶμα, ὥς φησι Πλάτων, ὅτι σῆμα ἐστὶ, τουτέστι τάφος τῆς ψυχῆς· δίκην γὰρ τάφου ἐντέθαπται ἡ ψυχὴ τῷ σώματι. Ἢ σώαιμα, σῶον αἷμα. Ἐν τῷ αἷμα)

Modern etymology

Unclear. The older meaning is "corpse, carcass" (of an animal), and it could mean etymologically "stiff" (Beekes, EDG)

Persistence in Modern Greek

The word is still used in MG, basically with the meanings: 1) Body/organism, 2) material object, 3) the total number of persons belonging to the same social/administrative/disciplinary team, 4) a collection of works/texts (corpus) (Triandafyllidis, DMG).

Entry By

Le Feuvre