παράλυσις

Forms

παράλυσις (parálusis) f (genitive παραλύσεως); third declension^[1]

Etymology

From the verb from Ancient Greek παραλύω (paralúō) + -σις (-sis), “to loosen, disable”, with the suffix of action nouns.^[1][2] The verb is made of παρά (pará) and λύω (lúō), “to loosen”, and the noun was understood literally as a “loosening” of the body.^[3]

Earliest recorded meaning

Its earliest uses are from the late 4th and 3rd centuries BC: Theophrastus uses it of the disabling of the nerves, and the Stoic Cleanthes calls grief a paralysis of the soul.^[4][5]

Semantic evolution

The word was above all medical, for paralysis of the body: it is used by Dioscorides, Rufus and Galen, and the 2nd century AD has most of its occurrences.^[4][6] Celsus uses it of a paralysis of the eyes.^[4] Strong wine was said to bring a paralysis of the body, and Polybius, like Cleanthes, uses it of the helplessness of the spirit.^[4][2] Plutarch uses it differently, for the secret breaking open of what should stay hidden.^[4] In the Septuagint's Ezekiel it means destruction.^[7] Herbalists also used it as a name for the larkspur and for hemlock, and Eustathius, in the 12th century, uses it of diaeresis in grammar.^[4][5]

Medieval Greek used it for bodily weakness and, figuratively, for moral laxity.^[8] Modern Greek παράλυση (parálysi) is a learned continuation; its figurative sense of the breakdown of an activity follows French paralysie.^[9] It passed into Latin as paralysis, from which English took paralysis in the 1520s; the older English form is palsy, through Old French.^[1][3]

Timeline

• 4th–3rd century BC – Theophrastus uses it of disabled nerves, and Cleanthes calls grief a paralysis of the soul.^[4][5]
• 2nd century BC – Polybius uses it of helplessness of the spirit.^[2][4]
• 1st century AD – Dioscorides uses it as a medical term, and Celsus of the eyes.^[4][5]
• 1st–2nd century AD – Plutarch uses it of the prying open of secrets.^[4][5]
• 1100–1669 – Vernacular texts use it of bodily weakness and of moral laxity.^[8]
• 1520s – English paralysis is recorded, from Latin.^[3]

Meanings

Noun

1. Paralysis, disabling of the nerves; of the eyes, nystagmus.^[4][2]
2. (figurative) Helplessness or prostration of the spirit.^[2][4]
3. Secret or unlawful breaking open, of things kept hidden.^[4]
4. Destruction.^[7]
5. (botany) A name of the larkspur and of hemlock.^[4]
6. (grammar) Diaeresis.^[4]

Related words

• λύω (lúō)
• Latin paralysis
• English paralysis
• English palsy

References

1. ^ a b c d e f Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
2. ^ a b c d e Diggle, James, et al., eds. (2021), The Cambridge Greek Lexicon, Cambridge: Cambridge University Press
3. ^ a b c Harper, Douglas. Online Etymology Dictionary, https://www.etymonline.com
4. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m n o Liddell, Henry George; Scott, Robert; Jones, Henry Stuart (1940), A Greek-English Lexicon, 9th ed., Oxford: Clarendon Press
5. ^ a b c d e Rodríguez Adrados, Francisco, et al., eds. (1980–), Diccionario Griego-Español, Madrid: CSIC, http://dge.cchs.csic.es/xdge
6. ^ Keersmaekers, Alek (2021–2025), GLAUx: The Greek Language Automated corpus, https://github.com/alekkeersmaekers/glaux
7. ^ a b Lust, Johan; Eynikel, Erik; Hauspie, Katrin (2003), Greek-English Lexicon of the Septuagint, rev. ed., Stuttgart: Deutsche Bibelgesellschaft
8. ^ a b Kriaras, Emmanuel, Επιτομή του Λεξικού της μεσαιωνικής ελληνικής δημώδους γραμματείας 1100–1669, Κέντρο Ελληνικής Γλώσσας, https://www.greek-language.gr
9. ^ Ινστιτούτο Νεοελληνικών Σπουδών (Ίδρυμα Μανόλη Τριανταφυλλίδη) (1998), Λεξικό της κοινής νεοελληνικής, Thessaloniki: Aristotle University of Thessaloniki