δῶμα
Word
Validation
Yes
Word-form
σῶμα
Word-lemma
Etymon-lemma
Transliteration (Word)
sōma
English translation (word)
body
Transliteration (Etymon)
dōma
English translation (etymon)
house
Century
11 AD
Source
Idem
Ref.
sigma 520, l. 15
Ed.
F.W. Sturz, Etymologicum Graecae linguae Gudianum, Leipzig 1818
Quotation
Σῶμα, οἱονεὶ δόμα τῆς ψυχῆς, ὅθεν καὶ σκήνωμα
Translation (En)
"Body" (sōma), as it were the "house" (doma/dōma) of the soul, whence its temporary habitation
Parallels
Ps.-Zonaras, Lexicon, sigma, p. 1706 (Σῶμα. συνδρομὴ στοιχείων. οἱονεὶ δῶμα ὂν τῆς ψυχῆς. ὅθεν καὶ σκήνωμα λέγεται)
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
Comment
This isolated etymology may result from a contamination with the etymology of δέμας demas linking the latter word with dōma (see δέμας / δῶμα). Since δέμας and σῶμα are linked and studied together in lexicographical works, an abridged formulation may have led to the attribution to σῶμα the etymology which is more often attributed to δέμας