σῶμα

See also: σώμα

Ancient Greek

Etymology

Of disputed origin:

• Maybe from Proto-Hellenic *twṓmə, from Proto-Indo-European *twoH-mn̥ (“compactness, swelling”), derived from *tewh₂- (“to swell”) + *-mn̥ (“nominal suffix”), and compared with σωρός (sōrós, “heap”). However, as Beekes notes in his entry on σῶς (sôs, “safe, healthy”), such an o-grade formation is rather strange.
• Alternatively, from Proto-Hellenic *styṓmə, from Proto-Indo-European *(s)tyoH-mn̥ (“what has stiffened”), derived from *styeH- (“to stiffen”) + *-mn̥, and compared with Sanskrit स्त्या (styā, “to flow, get stiff”).

Pronunciation

 

• IPA^(key): /sɔ̂ː.ma/ → /ˈso.ma/ → /ˈso.ma/

• (5^th BCE Attic) IPA^(key): /sɔ̂ː.ma/
• (1^st CE Egyptian) IPA^(key): /ˈso.ma/
• (4^th CE Koine) IPA^(key): /ˈso.ma/
• (10^th CE Byzantine) IPA^(key): /ˈso.ma/
• (15^th CE Constantinopolitan) IPA^(key): /ˈso.ma/

Noun

σῶμα • (sôma) n (genitive σώματος); third declension

1. body (both that of people and animals)
   1. (Homeric and often in other early works) dead body
2. One's life in the physical world
3. That which is material (as opposed to spiritual)
4. person
5. An entire thing
6. (mathematics) three-dimensional object

Declension

Third declension of τὸ σῶμᾰ; τοῦ σώμᾰτος (Attic)

Case / #	Singular	Dual	Plural
Nominative	τὸ σῶμᾰ tò sôma	τὼ σώμᾰτε tṑ sṓmate	τᾰ̀ σώμᾰτᾰ tà sṓmata
Genitive	τοῦ σώμᾰτος toû sṓmatos	τοῖν σωμᾰ́τοιν toîn sōmátoin	τῶν σωμᾰ́των tôn sōmátōn
Dative	τῷ σώμᾰτῐ tôi sṓmati	τοῖν σωμᾰ́τοιν toîn sōmátoin	τοῖς σώμᾰσῐ / σώμᾰσῐν toîs sṓmasi(n)
Accusative	τὸ σῶμᾰ tò sôma	τὼ σώμᾰτε tṑ sṓmate	τᾰ̀ σώμᾰτᾰ tà sṓmata
Vocative	σῶμᾰ sôma	σώμᾰτε sṓmate	σώμᾰτᾰ sṓmata
Notes:	This table gives Attic inflectional endings. For declension in other dialects, see Appendix:Ancient Greek dialectal declension.

Derived terms

• σωματικός (sōmatikós)
• σωμάτινος (sōmátinos)

 

Descendants

• Greek: σώμα (sóma)
• English: soma, somato-, -some, somatic
• Coptic: ⲥⲱⲙⲁ (sōma)

Further reading

• “σῶμα”, in Liddell & Scott (1940) A Greek–English Lexicon, Oxford: Clarendon Press
• σῶμα in Bailly, Anatole (1935) Le Grand Bailly: Dictionnaire grec-français, Paris: Hachette
• Bauer, Walter et al. (2001) A Greek–English Lexicon of the New Testament and Other Early Christian Literature, Third edition, Chicago: University of Chicago Press
• σῶμα in Cunliffe, Richard J. (1924) A Lexicon of the Homeric Dialect: Expanded Edition, Norman: University of Oklahoma Press, published 1963
• G4983 in Strong, James (1979) Strong’s Exhaustive Concordance to the Bible
• Woodhouse, S. C. (1910) English–Greek Dictionary: A Vocabulary of the Attic Language‎^[1], London: Routledge & Kegan Paul Limited.
  • bodily idem, page 87.
  • body idem, page 87.
  • constitution idem, page 164.
  • constitutional idem, page 165.
  • corporal idem, page 174.
  • corpse idem, page 174.
  • flesh idem, page 327.
  • frame idem, page 342.
  • health idem, page 391.
  • person idem, page 608.
  • personal idem, page 608.
  • physique idem, page 611.
  • stature idem, page 813.