ζῆλος

Forms

ζῆλος (zêlos) m (genitive ζήλου); second declension^[1] Doric ζᾶλος; later also neuter τὸ ζῆλος, genitive ζήλους.^[2][3][4]

Etymology

It is inherited from Proto-Indo-European *yéh₂los,^[1] from the root *yeh₂- (“to pursue, search, ask”).^[3][1] Beekes groups it with ζητέω (zētéō) “to seek”, δίζημαι (dízēmai) “to look for” and ζημία (zēmía) “penalty”, following García Ramón's explanation of Hesychius' gloss Ζητήρ (Zētḗr) as “avenger”, like a Vedic word for “avenger” from a root meaning “to ask, require”.^[3][1]

Ancient writers derived it from ζέω (zéō) “to boil”: zeal, said Simplicius, is a burning desire, and the Etymologicum Gudianum adds a derivation from ζάλη (zálē) “squall”, because jealousy throws a storm into a person.^[5]

Earliest recorded meaning

Hesiod is the first to use it: in the Works and Days (195) it is jealousy or Envy personified, and in the Theogony (384) Zelos, “Emulation”, is a son of Styx, brother of Victory, Power and Strength.^[2][6][7]

Semantic evolution

Classical Greek used it both for envious jealousy, often coupled with φθόνος (phthónos) (Democritus, Lysias, Plato), and, more often, in a good sense, for emulation of what one admires (Plato, Aristotle).^[2][6] Tragedy used it for enviable good fortune and for eager passion for someone or something.^[6]

In the Septuagint it renders fervour, zeal and jealousy, and in the New Testament it is zeal, ardent dedication to something.^[8][4] Late Latin borrowed it as Latin zelus, a Church word that gave English zeal.^[9] Modern Greek ζήλος (zílos) is a learned revival.^[10]

Timeline

• Before the 6th century BC – Hesiod names Envy and the god Zelos.^[2][6][11]
• 5th century BC – Sophocles uses it for zeal for kinsmen.^[2][4][11]
• 5th century BC – Euripides uses it for the rivalry for a woman's hand.^[2][11]
• 4th century BC – Aristotle uses it for emulation.^[2][6][11]
• 1st century AD – The Second Letter to the Corinthians (9:2) uses it for zeal.^[4]
• Late 14th century – English borrows zeal from Old French and Late Latin.^[9]

Meanings

Noun

1. Jealousy, envy; personified, Envy.^[6][2]
2. Emulation, eager rivalry; personified, Zelos, son of Styx.^[6][2]
3. Enviable good fortune or prestige.^[6]
4. Zeal, enthusiasm, passion for someone or something.^[6][4]
5. A fashion or style (of oratory).^[6]

Word family

• ζηλοτυπία (zēlotupíā)
• ζηλότυπος (zēlótupos)
• ζηλόω (zēlóō)
• ζηλωτής (zēlōtḗs)
• χαμαίζηλος (khamaízēlos)

Related words

• Latin zelus
• English zeal

Usage notes

Ammonius distinguishes it from φθόνος (phthónos): ζῆλος is the imitation of something one thinks good, out of desire for it, φθόνος a grudge at goods that others have and we lack;^[12] ζηλοτυπία is the jealous passion itself.^[12] The Atticist lexicon notes that it was used of jealousy, not only of emulation.^[13]

References

1. ^ a b c d e f g Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
2. ^ a b c d e f g h i Liddell, Henry George; Scott, Robert; Jones, Henry Stuart (1940), A Greek-English Lexicon, 9th ed., Oxford: Clarendon Press
3. ^ 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
4. ^ a b c d e 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
5. ^ Etygram: ancient etymologies of Greek words, CEPAM, Université Côte d'Azur, http://appsweb-cepam.unice.fr/etygram
6. ^ a b c d e f g h i j Diggle, James, et al., eds. (2021), The Cambridge Greek Lexicon, Cambridge: Cambridge University Press
7. ^ Keersmaekers, Alek (2021–2025), GLAUx: The Greek Language Automated corpus, https://github.com/alekkeersmaekers/glaux
8. ^ Lust, Johan; Eynikel, Erik; Hauspie, Katrin (2003), Greek-English Lexicon of the Septuagint, rev. ed., Stuttgart: Deutsche Bibelgesellschaft
9. ^ a b Harper, Douglas. Online Etymology Dictionary, https://www.etymonline.com
10. ^ Ινστιτούτο Νεοελληνικών Σπουδών (Ίδρυμα Μανόλη Τριανταφυλλίδη) (1998), Λεξικό της κοινής νεοελληνικής, Thessaloniki: Aristotle University of Thessaloniki
11. ^ a b c d Rodríguez Adrados, Francisco, et al., eds. (1980–), Diccionario Griego-Español, Madrid: CSIC, http://dge.cchs.csic.es/xdge
12. ^ a b [Ammonius], De adfinium vocabulorum differentia, ed. K. Nickau (Leipzig: Teubner, 1966)
13. ^ Lexica Segueriana, in Immanuel Bekker, ed. (1814), Anecdota Graeca I, Berlin: Nauck