θυσία

Forms

θῠσῐ́ᾱ (thusíā) f (genitive θῠσῐ́ᾱς); first declension^[1] Ionic θυσίη.^[2][3]

Etymology

It is formed from Ancient Greek θύω (thúō, “to sacrifice”) + -ία (-ía, “abstract noun suffix”), from the verb of offering by burning.^[1][4][3] Beekes notes that derivatives of that verb partly keep an older sense “smoke, incense”, as in θύος (thúos).^[4]

He traces the verb to a root Proto-Indo-European *dʰuH-, comparing Latin suffiō (“to fumigate”), and Hittite tuḫḫae-zi, which Kloekhorst takes to mean “to produce smoke”; whether this verb was at first the same as θύω (thúō, “to rush, rage”) is far from certain.^[4] Babiniotis also explains it from the verb in its sense “to make smoke, to sacrifice”.^[5]

Earliest recorded meaning

It is first found in the Homeric Hymn to Demeter, in the plural, of the sacrifices the gods would lose if mankind perished.^[4][3][5]

Semantic evolution

In Classical Greek it is a burnt-offering, mostly in the plural, the act or occasion of sacrifice: Pindar and Herodotus use it, and Herodotus also for a people's way of sacrificing.^[2][3] Because sacrifices were the centre of a festival, Plato, Aristotle and Demosthenes use it for the festival itself.^[2][3] Later it can mean the victim or offering, and Plutarch uses it for rites in general.^[2]

The Septuagint uses it for the sacrifices of the Law, such as the peace offering, and the New Testament for the sacrifice of Christ and, figuratively, for the offering of oneself and of praise.^[2][6] Medieval Greek kept the word, and Modern Greek θυσία (thysía) is both an offering to a god and, in a sense dating from Hellenistic times and reinforced by French sacrifice, a self-sacrifice or loss willingly borne.^[7][8][5]

Timeline

• 6th century BC – The Homeric Hymn to Demeter speaks of the gods' sacrifices.^[9][3]
• 6th–5th century BC – Pindar uses it for the sacrifices with which a god is welcomed.^[2][10]
• 5th century BC – Herodotus uses it for sacrifice and for a people's mode of sacrifice.^[2][10]
• 5th–4th century BC – Plato uses it for a festival.^[2]
• 3rd–2nd century BC – The Septuagint uses it for the sacrifices of the Law.^[2][11]
• 1st century AD – The New Testament uses it for sacrifice, literal and figurative.^[6]
• Modern Greek – θυσία (thysía) means sacrifice, including self-sacrifice.^[8]

Meanings

Noun

1. A burnt-offering, sacrifice; the act or occasion of sacrificing.^[2][3]
2. A mode of sacrifice, as practised by a people.^[2][3]
3. A festival at which sacrifices were offered; in the plural, rites, ceremonies.^[2][3]
4. The victim or offering itself.^[2][3][6]
5. (New Testament) Figuratively, an offering of oneself, of praise or of good works.^[6]

Word family

• θυσιάζω (thusiázō)
• θυσιαστήριον (thusiastḗrion)

Related words

• θυηλή (thuēlḗ)
• θῦμα (thûma)
• θύσθλα (thústhla)
• θύσιμος (thúsimos)
• θυστάς (thustás)
• θυτήρ (thutḗr)
• θύω (thúō)
• θύος (thúos)

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 Liddell, Henry George; Scott, Robert; Jones, Henry Stuart (1940), A Greek-English Lexicon, 9th ed., Oxford: Clarendon Press
3. ^ a b c d e f g h i j Diggle, James, et al., eds. (2021), The Cambridge Greek Lexicon, Cambridge: Cambridge University Press
4. ^ a b c d 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
5. ^ a b c Babiniotis, Georgios (2010), Ετυμολογικό λεξικό της νέας ελληνικής γλώσσας [Etymological Dictionary of Modern Greek], Athens: Κέντρο Λεξικολογίας
6. ^ a b c d 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. ^ Kriaras, Emmanuel, Επιτομή του Λεξικού της μεσαιωνικής ελληνικής δημώδους γραμματείας 1100–1669, Κέντρο Ελληνικής Γλώσσας, https://www.greek-language.gr
8. ^ a b Ινστιτούτο Νεοελληνικών Σπουδών (Ίδρυμα Μανόλη Τριανταφυλλίδη) (1998), Λεξικό της κοινής νεοελληνικής, Thessaloniki: Aristotle University of Thessaloniki
9. ^ Keersmaekers, Alek (2021–2025), GLAUx: The Greek Language Automated corpus, https://github.com/alekkeersmaekers/glaux
10. ^ a b Rodríguez Adrados, Francisco, et al., eds. (1980–), Diccionario Griego-Español, Madrid: CSIC, http://dge.cchs.csic.es/xdge
11. ^ Lust, Johan; Eynikel, Erik; Hauspie, Katrin (2003), Greek-English Lexicon of the Septuagint, rev. ed., Stuttgart: Deutsche Bibelgesellschaft