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soma

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Etymology and origin of the English word soma

Pronunciation

  • UK: /ˈsəʊmə/[1]
  • US: /ˈsoʊmə/[1]

soma1 Vedic ritual drink

Confidence
Established
Formation
Borrowing
First attested
1785 Charles Wilkins, translation of the Bhagavad Gita
Borrowed from
Sanskrit सोम
Ultimate origin
Sanskrit सोम

Etymology

The ritual drink is borrowed from Sanskrit सोम (sóma),[2][3][4][5] the name of the juice and of the plant it was pressed from.[6] It is akin to Avestan haoma, the ritual drink of the Zoroastrians,[4][7][2] which the OED connects with hom.[2] Klein and the American Heritage Dictionary relate the Sanskrit word to a verb meaning to press or squeeze,[6][8] and Klein and Etymonline trace it to Proto-Indo-European *seu- (“juice; to squeeze; to flow”),[6][3] which Klein also finds in Ancient Greek ὑετός (huetós, “rain”).[6]

Earliest recorded meaning

The plant that yields the juice: 1785, in Charles Wilkins's translation of the Bhagavad Gita.[2][3]

Semantic evolution

The drink itself is named in English from 1827;[2][4] it was offered to the gods in Vedic ritual, drunk as a drink of immortality, and worshipped as a god.[4] The plant has been identified with Sarcostemma acidum,[4][6] but the Shorter Oxford calls it of uncertain identity, probably an ephedra.[9] Aldous Huxley gave the name, in Brave New World (1932), to a euphoric drug that the state hands out to keep people content;[2][3][9] after Huxley's drug, soma became a drugs slang name for phencyclidine by 1979.[10]

Timeline

  • 1785 – the plant yielding the juice, in Wilkins's Bhagavad Gita.[2][3]
  • 1827 – the intoxicating drink of Vedic ritual.[2][4]
  • 1932 – in Huxley's Brave New World, a state-issued drug that induces euphoria.[2][3]
  • 1979 – drugs slang, phencyclidine.[10]

Meanings

Noun

  1. An intoxicating drink pressed from a plant, used in Vedic ritual as an offering to the gods and worshipped as a god.[4][5][2]
  2. The plant from which this drink was made, of uncertain identity.[9][4][2]
  3. In Aldous Huxley's Brave New World, a drug handed out by the state to keep people happy and docile.[2][9]
  4. (drugs slang) Phencyclidine.[10]

soma2 body

Confidence
Established
Formation
Borrowing
First attested
1889 translation of A. Weismann's essays on heredity
Borrowed from
Latin soma
Ultimate origin
Ancient Greek σῶμα
Etymology tree of soma2
inherited borrowed derived
Ancient Greek σῶμα
Latin soma
English soma
The journey of soma2

Etymology

The word for the body is borrowed from New Latin soma, stem somat-,[4][11][5] from Ancient Greek σῶμα (sôma, “body”).[2][4][9][8] Partridge calls the Greek word of obscure origin and finds Hofmann's link with Proto-Indo-European *tum- (“to swell”) unconvincing;[7] Klein suggests that it meant "something thickset" and relates it to Ancient Greek σῶς (sôs, “safe, sound, whole”) and to Latin tumeō (“to swell”).[6] Partridge derives somatic from the Greek adjective formed on it.[7]

Earliest recorded meaning

The body of an organism as distinct from its germ cells: 1889, in a translation of A. Weismann's essays on heredity.[2] Merriam-Webster dates it to about 1885.[4]

Semantic evolution

The word entered English through biology, in the theory of heredity that sets the body against the germ cells.[2][9] In the 20th century anatomy used it for the cell body of a nerve cell, apart from the axon and dendrites (1947);[2][9] from 1958 it also named the body as opposed to the mind or soul, the opposite of psyche.[2][4]

Timeline

  • 1889 – the body of an organism as distinct from the germ cells.[2]
  • 1947 – the cell body of a nerve cell.[2]
  • 1958 – the body as opposed to the mind or soul.[2]

Meanings

Noun

  1. The body of an organism as distinct from its germ cells.[4][5][2]
  2. The cell body of a neuron, apart from the axon and dendrites.[4][9][2]
  3. The body as opposed to the mind or soul; the opposite of psyche.[4][2]

Word family

  • somatic
  • somite
  • prosoma
  • somato-
  • -some
  • haoma

References

  1. ^ a b Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
  2. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m n o p q r s t u v w Oxford English Dictionary Online (accessed March 2026), Oxford: Oxford University Press
  3. ^ a b c d e f Harper, Douglas. Online Etymology Dictionary, https://www.etymonline.com
  4. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m n o Merriam-Webster Unabridged Dictionary (2024), online ed., Springfield, Mass.: Merriam-Webster
  5. ^ a b c d Collins English Dictionary (2023), Glasgow: HarperCollins
  6. ^ a b c d e f Klein, Ernest. A Comprehensive Etymological Dictionary of the English Language. 2 vols. Amsterdam: Elsevier, 1966–1967.
  7. ^ a b c Partridge, Eric (1966), Origins: A Short Etymological Dictionary of Modern English, 4th ed., London: Routledge & Kegan Paul
  8. ^ a b The American Heritage Dictionary of the English Language (online 2024), 5th ed., Boston: Houghton Mifflin Harcourt
  9. ^ a b c d e f g h Shorter Oxford English Dictionary on Historical Principles (2002), 5th ed., ed. William R. Trumble and Angus Stevenson, Oxford: Oxford University Press
  10. ^ a b c Green, Jonathon (2010), Green's Dictionary of Slang, London: Chambers; digital ed. 2016–, https://greensdictofslang.com
  11. ^ Dictionary.com Unabridged (2016), based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, New York: Random House

Related etymologies

Cite this entry

“Soma.” Etymologically, 1 Nov. 2026, etymologically.com/en/soma. Accessed 1 Nov. 2026.

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