σώζω
Word
Validation
Yes
Word-form
σῶμα
Word-lemma
Etymon-lemma
Transliteration (Word)
sōma
English translation (word)
body
Transliteration (Etymon)
sōzō
English translation (etymon)
to save
Author
Plato
Century
4 BC
Source
Idem
Ref.
Cratylus 400c
Ed.
J. Burnet, Platonis Opera, Oxford UP, 1903
Parallels
Scholia in Batrachomyomachiam 81, 8-14 (ὡσαύτως καὶ σῶμα σημαίνει δύο· τὸ ζῶν καὶ τὸ τεθνηκός. (1’a) καὶ τὸ μὲν ζῶν ἐτυμολογεῖται ἀπὸ τοῦ σῶον εἶναι, ἤγουν ὑγιὲς καὶ ὁλόκληρον· (1’b) ἢ ἀπὸ τοῦ σώζω, σώσω, σέσωκα, σέσωσμαι καὶ ἐξ αὐτοῦ σῶσμα καὶ ἐκβολῇ τοῦ σ σῶμα τὸ σεσωσμένον καὶ ὑγιὲς ὑπάρχον· ἢ (1’c) ἀπὸ τοῦ ζῶ ζῶμα καὶ διαλύσει τοῦ ζ εἰς σ καὶ δ—τὸ γὰρ ζ ἐκ τούτων σύγκειται καὶ εἰς αὐτὰ πάλιν διαλύεται—καὶ ἐκβολῇ τοῦ δ σῶμα. (2’) τὸ δὲ τεθνηκὸς παρὰ τὸ σημεῖον καὶ μνημεῖον εἶναι τοῦ ποτε ζῶντος)
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
In this etymology which is presented as a correction to the σῶμα σῆμα ("the body is a tomb") attributed to the Orphic tradition, Plato takes sōzein "to save" in the meaning "to keep hold of", not "to rescue". The same etymology is also found with the meaning that the body keeps the soul safe (see under etymon σῶος). Plato underlines the fact that no formal manipulation is required, which is indeed exceptional in the Cratylus