ζέμα

Forms

ζέμᾰ (zéma) n (genitive ζέμᾰτος); third declension^[1] Also spelled ζέμμα (zémma).^[2][3]

Etymology

It is formed from Ancient Greek ζέω (zéō, “to boil, seethe”) + -μα (-ma), the suffix of nouns of action and result.^[1][4] Beekes lists it, with the prefixed ἐπίζεμα (epízema) and ἀπόζεμα (apózema) “boiling, decoction”, among the derivatives of the verb.^[5]

The verb is a thematic present from Proto-Indo-European *yes- (“to boil, foam”), and matches Sanskrit यसति (yasati, “to seethe, boil”) and Old High German jesan (“to ferment, foam”).^[5] The same verb is found in Tocharian A yäs- (“to boil”) and, according to Mann, in Albanian ziej (“to boil”).^[5]

Earliest recorded meaning

The earliest texts with it in the GLAUx corpus are the Physica et mystica attributed to Bolus, dated there to the 3rd–2nd century BC, and the Septuagint's book of Judges (2nd century BC).^[6] In Judges it is used figuratively, of lewdness.^[2][7]

Semantic evolution

It is mainly a word of the medical writers: in the extracts that Galen quotes it means fermentation and the boiling of a mixture, and Dioscorides uses it for a decoction, the liquid in which something has been boiled.^[2][7] Set phrases of the recipes are “to give it a boiling”, that is, to bring it to the boil, and “a fowl from the boiling”, a boiled fowl.^[2] The spelling with a double ⟨μμ⟩ is found in the Septuagint and in Galen.^[2][3]

In medieval vernacular Greek the word meant scalding hot water.^[8]

Timeline

• 3rd–2nd century BC – The Physica et mystica of Bolus is the earliest text with the word in the GLAUx corpus.^[6]
• 2nd century BC – The Septuagint's book of Judges uses it figuratively, for lewdness.^[2][6]
• 1st century AD – Dioscorides uses it for a decoction.^[2][9]
• 2nd century AD – Galen's work on compound drugs has it for fermentation and for boiling.^[2][6][9]
• 4th century AD – Oribasius tells the reader to keep a mixture on the boil with δὸς ζέμα.^[2][9]
• 6th century AD – Alexander of Tralles prescribes a boiled fowl, ὄρνις ἀπὸ ζέματος.^[2][9]
• 10th century AD – The Geoponica uses it for a decoction.^[2][9]
• 1100–1669 – Vernacular Greek uses the form ζέμαν (zéman) for scalding hot water, as in the Prodromic poems.^[8]

Meanings

Noun

1. Fermentation.^[2][10]
2. (figurative) Lewdness.^[2][7]
3. Boiling: to bring a mixture to the boil, to keep it on the boil.^[2]
4. That which is boiled; a decoction.^[2][10]
5. (Byzantine) Scalding hot water.^[8]

Related words

• ζέω (zéō)
• ἀπόζεμα (apózema)
• ἔκζεμα (ékzema)
• ζεστός (zestós)
• ζέσις (zésis)

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 m n o Liddell, Henry George; Scott, Robert; Jones, Henry Stuart (1940), A Greek-English Lexicon, 9th ed., Oxford: Clarendon Press
3. ^ a b Pape, Wilhelm (1914), Griechisch-deutsches Handwörterbuch, 3rd ed., rev. Max Sengebusch, Braunschweig: Vieweg
4. ^ Bailly, Anatole (2020), Dictionnaire grec-français, Bailly 2020 Hugo Chávez ed., ed. Gérard Gréco et al.
5. ^ a b c Beekes, Robert S. P. (2010), Etymological Dictionary of Greek, with the assistance of Lucien van Beek, Leiden Indo-European Etymological Dictionary Series 10, Leiden; Boston: Brill
6. ^ a b c d Keersmaekers, Alek (2021–2025), GLAUx: The Greek Language Automated corpus, https://github.com/alekkeersmaekers/glaux
7. ^ a b c Charbonnet, André (2025), Chæréphon, v4.7: supplement to Bailly from papyri, inscriptions and recent lexica
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. ^ a b c d e Rodríguez Adrados, Francisco, et al., eds. (1980–), Diccionario Griego-Español, Madrid: CSIC, http://dge.cchs.csic.es/xdge
10. ^ a b Korinthios, J. (2025), Grande Dizionario Greco Classico: Greco–Italiano, digital ed., Milan: Hoepli