δῶμα

Validation

Yes

Word-form

σῶμα

Transliteration (Word)

sōma

English translation (word)

body

Transliteration (Etymon)

dōma

English translation (etymon)

house

Author

Etym. Gudianum

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

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

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