κοιμητήριον

Forms

κοιμητήρῐον (koimētḗrion) n (genitive κοιμητηρίου); second declension^[1][2] Also feminine κοιμητηρία, recorded in the Etymologicum Magnum.^[3] Late spellings include κυμητήριον and κυμιτίριον, and the papyri write κυμυτήριον.^[4][5] Medieval Greek also has κοιμηντήριον, κοιμητήρι and κοιμητήριν.^[6][7]

Etymology

It is formed from Ancient Greek κοιμάω (koimáō, “to put to sleep”) + -τήριον (-tḗrion), the suffix of nouns of place, so “a place for sleeping”.^[1][8][9] BDAG refers to Chantraine's article on κεῖμαι (keîmai, “to lie”), the verb to which κοιμάω (koimáō) belongs.^[2] Etymonline traces the family to Proto-Indo-European *ḱey- (“to lie”), which also gave words for “bed” and “couch”.^[10]

Earliest recorded meaning

It is first found in a 4th-century BC inscription from Oropus, meaning a bedroom or sleeping-room.^[3][2] The 3rd-century BC epigrammatist Dosiadas, quoted by Athenaeus, also uses it of a place to sleep.^[2][11]

Semantic evolution

Christian writers turned the “sleeping place” into the resting place of the dead, a graveyard or cemetery, since death was spoken of as sleep.^[2][11][10] Inscriptions use it of a burial place, and Jewish inscriptions do so too.^[3][2] In 4th-century AD papyri it also means a storehouse or granary.^[5]

The word passed into Coptic, where it is first recorded about AD 350.^[12] It was borrowed into Late Latin coemētērium, which through Old French cimetiere became the English word cemetery in the late 14th century.^[10] Medieval vernacular Greek kept it in the sense of a cemetery or a grave.^[7][6] Modern Greek κοιμητήριο (koimitírio) is a learned word of the Church language for a cemetery.^[13]

Timeline

• 4th century BC – An inscription from Oropus uses it of a sleeping-room.^[3][2]
• 3rd century BC – Dosiadas, quoted by Athenaeus, uses it of a place to sleep.^[2][3]
• 3rd century AD – It appears in the Christian writers Origen and Hippolytus.^[14]
• About AD 350 – Its Coptic borrowing is first recorded.^[12]
• 4th century AD – Papyri use it of a storehouse for grain.^[5]
• 1100–1669 – Vernacular Greek uses it for a cemetery and also has the form κοιμητήρι (koimitíri).^[7][6]
• Late 14th century – English borrows cemetery, through Latin and Old French.^[10]
• Modern Greek – The learned κοιμητήριο (koimitírio) means a cemetery in Church usage.^[13]

Meanings

Noun

1. A sleeping-room, bedroom, dormitory.^[3][2][11]
2. (Christian) A burial place, cemetery.^[3][2][15]
3. (papyri) A storehouse or granary.^[5]

Related words

• κοιμάω (koimáō)
• κεῖμαι (keîmai)
• Latin coemētērium
• English cemetery

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 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
3. ^ a b c d e f g Liddell, Henry George; Scott, Robert; Jones, Henry Stuart (1940), A Greek-English Lexicon, 9th ed., Oxford: Clarendon Press
4. ^ Korinthios, J. (2025), Grande Dizionario Greco Classico: Greco–Italiano, digital ed., Milan: Hoepli
5. ^ a b c d Charbonnet, André (2025), Chæréphon, v4.7: supplement to Bailly from papyri, inscriptions and recent lexica
6. ^ a b c Πάπυρος–Larousse–Britannica, Μέγα Λεξικό της Ελληνικής Γλώσσας, Athens: Πάπυρος
7. ^ a b c Kriaras, Emmanuel, Επιτομή του Λεξικού της μεσαιωνικής ελληνικής δημώδους γραμματείας 1100–1669, Κέντρο Ελληνικής Γλώσσας, https://www.greek-language.gr
8. ^ Βικιλεξικό, the Greek Wiktionary, https://el.wiktionary.org
9. ^ Bailly, Anatole (2020), Dictionnaire grec-français, Bailly 2020 Hugo Chávez ed., ed. Gérard Gréco et al.
10. ^ a b c d Harper, Douglas. Online Etymology Dictionary, https://www.etymonline.com
11. ^ a b c Pape, Wilhelm (1914), Griechisch-deutsches Handwörterbuch, 3rd ed., rev. Max Sengebusch, Braunschweig: Vieweg
12. ^ a b Database and Dictionary of Greek Loanwords in Coptic (DDGLC), Freie Universität Berlin and Universität Leipzig
13. ^ a b Ινστιτούτο Νεοελληνικών Σπουδών (Ίδρυμα Μανόλη Τριανταφυλλίδη) (1998), Λεξικό της κοινής νεοελληνικής, Thessaloniki: Aristotle University of Thessaloniki
14. ^ Keersmaekers, Alek (2021–2025), GLAUx: The Greek Language Automated corpus, https://github.com/alekkeersmaekers/glaux
15. ^ Malhadas, Daisi; Dezotti, Maria Celeste C.; Neves, Maria Helena de Moura, eds. (2006–2010), Dicionário Grego-Português, São Paulo: Ateliê; digital ed. 3 (2022), UNESP Araraquara