οἴδημα

Forms

οἴδημᾰ (oídēma) n (genitive οἴδημᾰτος); third declension^[1]

Etymology

It is formed from Ancient Greek οἰδέω (oidéō, “to swell”) + -μα (-ma), the suffix of nouns of result.^[2][3][4] The verb goes back to Proto-Indo-European *h₂oyd-éye-ti, from the root *h₂eyd- (“to swell”).^[1][4] Beekes calls Armenian Old Armenian այտնում (aytnum, “to swell”) a certain cognate,^[4] and Germanic has isolated nouns such as Old High German eiz (“abscess, ulcer”).^[4]

Earliest recorded meaning

It first appears in the Hippocratic writings of the 5th century BC, of swellings in the body.^[5][6][7]

Semantic evolution

Demosthenes uses it of a swelling left by injury.^[5][8] Plutarch applies it figuratively to anger, which the soul throws up like a swelling.^[9][10] Galen restricts it to soft swellings that cause no pain, and the Hippocratic diminutive οἰδημάτιον (oidēmátion) was later also the name of an eye salve.^[5] Hesychius explains it as an inflammation or an abscess, and also as the troubling of waves.^[11]

In Modern Greek, οίδημα (ídima) is a learned word, the medical term for a swelling caused by fluid gathering in the tissues.^[12] English edema is recorded from about 1400, through medical Latin.^[13]

Timeline

• 5th century BC – The Hippocratic Aphorisms and Epidemics use it of swellings.^[5][6]
• 4th century BC – Demosthenes uses it of a swelling from a beating.^[5][8]
• 1st–2nd century AD – Plutarch speaks of anger as a swelling of the soul.^[9][10]
• 2nd century AD – Galen limits it to soft and painless tumours.^[5]
• About 1400 – English borrows it through medical Latin as oedema.^[13]
• Modern Greek – The learned οίδημα (ídima) is the medical term for edema.^[12]

Meanings

Noun

1. A swelling, tumour, from injury or inflammation; in Galen, only a soft, painless one.^[5][8]
2. (figurative) A swelling of passion, of anger in the soul.^[9][10]

Related words

• οἰδέω (oidéō)
• οἶδος (oîdos)
• οἶδμα (oîdma)
• English edema

References

1. ^ a b c d e Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
2. ^ Βικιλεξικό, the Greek Wiktionary, https://el.wiktionary.org
3. ^ Bailly, Anatole (2020), Dictionnaire grec-français, Bailly 2020 Hugo Chávez ed., ed. Gérard Gréco et al.
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 d e f g Liddell, Henry George; Scott, Robert; Jones, Henry Stuart (1940), A Greek-English Lexicon, 9th ed., Oxford: Clarendon Press
6. ^ a b Keersmaekers, Alek (2021–2025), GLAUx: The Greek Language Automated corpus, https://github.com/alekkeersmaekers/glaux
7. ^ Babiniotis, Georgios (2010), Ετυμολογικό λεξικό της νέας ελληνικής γλώσσας [Etymological Dictionary of Modern Greek], Athens: Κέντρο Λεξικολογίας
8. ^ a b c Diggle, James, et al., eds. (2021), The Cambridge Greek Lexicon, Cambridge: Cambridge University Press
9. ^ a b c Pape, Wilhelm (1914), Griechisch-deutsches Handwörterbuch, 3rd ed., rev. Max Sengebusch, Braunschweig: Vieweg
10. ^ a b c Дворецкий, И. Х. (1958), Древнегреческо-русский словарь, Moscow: ГИС
11. ^ Hesychius of Alexandria, Lexicon, ed. Kurt Latte (Α–Ο, Copenhagen 1953–1966) and Moritz Schmidt (Π–Ω, Jena 1858–1868)
12. ^ a b Ινστιτούτο Νεοελληνικών Σπουδών (Ίδρυμα Μανόλη Τριανταφυλλίδη) (1998), Λεξικό της κοινής νεοελληνικής, Thessaloniki: Aristotle University of Thessaloniki
13. ^ a b Harper, Douglas. Online Etymology Dictionary, https://www.etymonline.com