Etymologically
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ζύμη

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Pronunciation

  • 5th-century BC Attic: /zdy̌ː.mɛː/[1]
  • 4th-century AD Koine: /ˈzy.mi/[1]
  • 10th-century Byzantine: /ˈzy.mi/[1]

Forms

ζῡ́μη (zū́mē) f (genitive ζῡ́μης); first declension[1]

Etymology

Beekes and Chantraine derive it from a noun, as ἅλμη (hálmē, “brine”) comes from ἅλς (háls, “salt”): the Indo-European word for “broth”, seen in Latin iūs (“broth, soup”).[2][3] Greek would then continue inherited from Proto-Indo-European *yuHs-meh₂.[2] The same noun is the base of Lithuanian jū́šė (“fish soup”) and of Old Norse ostr (“cheese”).[2][4] Chantraine notes that these words all mean “soup” or “broth”, a sense rather different from “leaven”.[3]

Behind it is probably a verb meaning “to mix”, Pokorny's Proto-Indo-European *i̯eu- (“to mix (food)”).[2][4] Pokorny and Beekes also connect ζωμός (zōmós, “broth, soup”).[2][4]

Earliest recorded meaning

It is first found in the Hippocratic treatise On Regimen and in Aristotle, meaning leaven.[5][2][6]

Semantic evolution

Papyri use it for brewer's yeast.[3][2] The Septuagint has it ten times, all in Exodus.[7] The New Testament makes leaven an image of corruption (Matthew 16:6), and Paul writes μικρὰ ζύμη ὅλον τὸ φύραμα ζυμοῖ, “a little leaven leavens the whole lump”.[3][6] BDAG notes that the ancient leaven was fermented dough, and that “yeast” suggests a product foreign to ancient baking.[6]

Today Modern Greek ζύμη (zými) is a learned word for dough or pastry.[8] The English prefix zymo- comes from it, and enzyme was coined in German in 1878 from Modern Greek ένζυμος “leavened”.[9]

Timeline

  • 5th century BC – The Hippocratic On Regimen mentions leaven.[5]
  • 4th century BC – Aristotle uses it for leaven.[2][6]
  • 3rd century BC – The Septuagint uses it in Exodus.[7][5]
  • 1st century AD – The New Testament uses leaven as an image of corrupting influence.[3][6]
  • 1878 – The German physiologist Wilhelm Kühne coins Enzym, the source of English enzyme.[9]
  • Modern Greek – Modern Greek ζύμη (zými) means dough.[8]

Meanings

Noun

  1. Leaven, fermented dough used to raise bread.[2][6]
  2. Brewer's yeast.[3][2]
  3. (New Testament, figurative) A corrupting influence.[3][6]
  • ζωμός (zōmós)
  • Latin iūs
  • English enzyme
  • English zymo-

References

  1. ^ a b c d Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
  2. ^ a b c d e f g h i j 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
  3. ^ a b c d e f g Chantraine, Pierre (2009), Dictionnaire étymologique de la langue grecque: histoire des mots, new ed. with a supplement (Chroniques d'étymologie grecque 1–10), Paris: Klincksieck
  4. ^ a b c Pokorny, Julius (1959), Indogermanisches etymologisches Wörterbuch, Bern; Munich: Francke
  5. ^ a b c Keersmaekers, Alek (2021–2025), GLAUx: The Greek Language Automated corpus, https://github.com/alekkeersmaekers/glaux
  6. ^ a b c d e f g 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
  7. ^ a b Lust, Johan; Eynikel, Erik; Hauspie, Katrin (2003), Greek-English Lexicon of the Septuagint, rev. ed., Stuttgart: Deutsche Bibelgesellschaft
  8. ^ a b Ινστιτούτο Νεοελληνικών Σπουδών (Ίδρυμα Μανόλη Τριανταφυλλίδη) (1998), Λεξικό της κοινής νεοελληνικής, Thessaloniki: Aristotle University of Thessaloniki
  9. ^ a b Harper, Douglas. Online Etymology Dictionary, https://www.etymonline.com