διάλυσις

Forms

δῐᾰ́λῠσῐς (diálusis) f (genitive δῐᾰλῠ́σεως); third declension^[1]

Etymology

It is from Ancient Greek διαλύω (dialū́ō, “to loose apart, dissolve”) with the suffix -σις (-sis).^[1][2] The verb is λύω (lū́ō, “to loosen”) with διά (diá, “apart”).^[3]

Earliest recorded meaning

It is first found in the 5th century BC: Herodotus (3.104) has the “breaking up” of the market, the time when it closed, Thucydides (1.51) the breaking off of a battle, and Euripides (Phoenician Women 435) an end to troubles.^[4][2][5]

Semantic evolution

From “loosing apart” the word took many senses: the separation of soul and body at death and the dissolution of the body in Plato; the breaking up of bridges, meetings and armies; the ending of wars, alliances, friendships, partnerships and marriages.^[4][2] In Attic law it was the settlement of a dispute by agreement, which the Greek states tried before a formal verdict, and the paying off of debts.^[2][6][4] Philosophers set it against composition (σύνθεσις) and coming into being as decomposition, and Dionysius of Halicarnassus used it of the resolution of words into letters.^[4][7] In the First Epistle of Clement it is the decay of a seed.^[3]

Medieval vernacular Greek also used it for an interpretation, as of a dream, and for a legal compromise.^[8] Modern Greek διάλυση (diálysi) is a learned continuation, its senses “dissolution” and “solution” in chemistry shaped by French dissolution and solution.^[9]

Timeline

• 5th century BC – Herodotus uses it of the closing of the market, and Thucydides of breaking off a battle.^[4][2]
• 5th century BC – Euripides uses it of an end to troubles.^[4]
• 5th–4th century BC – Plato uses it of the separation of soul and body and of the paying off of debts.^[4][2]
• 4th century BC – Aristotle uses it of the dissolution of friendships and of substances.^[4]
• 4th century BC – An inscription from Mytilene uses it of a settlement.^[4][7]
• 1st–2nd century AD – Plutarch uses it of divorce.^[4]
• 1100–1669 – Vernacular texts use it of an interpretation and of a legal compromise.^[8]

Meanings

Noun

1. A Separation or parting, as of soul and body in death.^[4][2]
2. Dissolution, decomposition, as of the body or of a substance.^[4][7][3]
3. A breaking up or disbanding, as of bridges, an assembly or an army; the closing time of the market.^[4][2]
4. The ending of an alliance, friendship, partnership or marriage; divorce.^[4][2]
5. Cessation, end, as of troubles or war; peace terms.^[4][2]
6. (law) The settlement of a dispute by agreement.^[2][6]
7. The paying off of debts.^[4][2]
8. (Byzantine) An interpretation, as of a dream.^[8]

Related words

• διαλύω (dialū́ō)
• λύω (lū́ō)
• σύνθεσις (súnthesis)
• English dialysis

References

1. ^ a b c d e Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
2. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l Diggle, James, et al., eds. (2021), The Cambridge Greek Lexicon, Cambridge: Cambridge University Press
3. ^ a b c Bauer, Walter; Danker, Frederick W., et al. (2000), A Greek-English Lexicon of the New Testament and Other Early Christian Literature, 3rd ed., Chicago: University of Chicago Press
4. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m n o p Liddell, Henry George; Scott, Robert; Jones, Henry Stuart (1940), A Greek-English Lexicon, 9th ed., Oxford: Clarendon Press
5. ^ Keersmaekers, Alek (2021–2025), GLAUx: The Greek Language Automated corpus, https://github.com/alekkeersmaekers/glaux
6. ^ a b Cancik, Hubert; Schneider, Helmuth, eds. (2002–2010), Brill's New Pauly: Encyclopaedia of the Ancient World, Leiden: Brill
7. ^ a b c Rodríguez Adrados, Francisco, et al., eds. (1980–), Diccionario Griego-Español, Madrid: CSIC, http://dge.cchs.csic.es/xdge
8. ^ a b c Kriaras, Emmanuel, Επιτομή του Λεξικού της μεσαιωνικής ελληνικής δημώδους γραμματείας 1100–1669, Κέντρο Ελληνικής Γλώσσας, https://www.greek-language.gr
9. ^ Ινστιτούτο Νεοελληνικών Σπουδών (Ίδρυμα Μανόλη Τριανταφυλλίδη) (1998), Λεξικό της κοινής νεοελληνικής, Thessaloniki: Aristotle University of Thessaloniki