σῆμα

Forms

σῆμᾰ (sêma) n (genitive σήμᾰτος); third declension^[1]

Etymology

It looks like an inherited word, but it has no convincing etymology.^[2][3][4] Brugmann identified it with a Sanskrit noun meaning “thought”, from Sanskrit ध्यायति (dhyāyati, “to think of”); this fits the form better than the meaning.^[2][4][3] If it is right, σῆμα is inherited from Proto-Indo-European *dʰyéh₂mn̥.^[2][1] E. Leumann compared Khotanese śśāma (“sign”).^[3]

The Doric form is σᾶμα (sâma).^[5][6]

Earliest recorded meaning

In Homer it is a sign or mark: a sign from Zeus, the mark on a horse's forehead, the mark on a lot, the mark showing a throw, the device of identity, and the mound raised over a grave.^[5][6][7] In the Iliad it also names the baneful signs on a folded tablet.^[5][6]

Semantic evolution

Archaic poets use it for signs of the seasons and of the weather: Hesiod's sign for ploughing, Archilochus' cloud as a sign of storm, Solon's signs of youth.^[5][6] Parmenides uses the plural for the heavenly bodies.^[6] The sense “grave, tomb” became common in prose: Herodotus, and Thucydides on the public tomb of Athens.^[5][6] Plato quotes the saying that the body (σῶμα) is our tomb (σῆμα).^[5]

Modern Greek σήμα (síma) “signal, emblem” is a learned word, with its sense taken from French signal.^[8] English semaphore (1814) comes from French, ultimately from this word.^[9]

Timeline

• Homer – The Iliad and the Odyssey use it for a sign, an omen, a token of identity and a grave mound.^[5][6][10]
• Before the 6th century BC – Hesiod uses it for the sign for ploughing.^[5][6][11]
• 7th century BC – Archilochus calls a cloud a sign of storm.^[5][11]
• 6th–5th century BC – Parmenides uses the plural for heavenly bodies.^[6][11]
• 5th century BC – Herodotus and Thucydides use it for a tomb.^[5][11]
• 5th–4th century BC – Plato cites the saying that the body is a tomb.^[5][11]
• 1814 – English semaphore is coined from French.^[9]
• Modern Greek – σήμα (síma) is revived as a learned word for a signal or emblem.^[8]

Meanings

Noun

1. A sign, mark or distinguishing feature, such as a mark on a horse's forehead or on a lot.^[6][5]
2. A sign from heaven, omen, portent.^[5][6]
3. A sign for action, signal; a watchword.^[5][6]
4. A token or proof of identity.^[6][5]
5. (plural) Written signs, symbols on a tablet.^[6][5]
6. A device on a shield; an emblem on a ship.^[6][5]
7. A marker of a place or distance, such as the mark showing where a quoit fell.^[6][5]
8. (plural) The heavenly bodies, constellations.^[6]
9. A mound marking a grave; a grave, tomb.^[6][5]

Word family

• ἄσημος (ásēmos)
• σημαίνω (sēmaínō)
• σημεῖον (sēmeîon)

Related words

• σῶμα (sôma)
• English semaphore

Usage notes

The Platonic pun σῶμα σῆμα, “the body is a tomb”, is quoted in the Gorgias and the Cratylus.^[5]

References

1. ^ a b c d e Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
2. ^ 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
3. ^ a b c Frisk, Hjalmar (1960–1972), Griechisches etymologisches Wörterbuch, 3 vols, Heidelberg: Carl Winter
4. ^ a b Chantraine, Pierre (2009), Dictionnaire étymologique de la langue grecque: histoire des mots, new ed. with a supplement (Chroniques d'étymologie grecque 1–10), Paris: Klincksieck
5. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m n o p q r s t Liddell, Henry George; Scott, Robert; Jones, Henry Stuart (1940), A Greek-English Lexicon, 9th ed., Oxford: Clarendon Press
6. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m n o p q r Diggle, James, et al., eds. (2021), The Cambridge Greek Lexicon, Cambridge: Cambridge University Press
7. ^ Cunliffe, Richard John (1924), A Lexicon of the Homeric Dialect, London: Blackie and Son
8. ^ a b Ινστιτούτο Νεοελληνικών Σπουδών (Ίδρυμα Μανόλη Τριανταφυλλίδη) (1998), Λεξικό της κοινής νεοελληνικής, Thessaloniki: Aristotle University of Thessaloniki
9. ^ a b Harper, Douglas. Online Etymology Dictionary, https://www.etymonline.com
10. ^ Keersmaekers, Alek (2021–2025), GLAUx: The Greek Language Automated corpus, https://github.com/alekkeersmaekers/glaux
11. ^ a b c d e Rodríguez Adrados, Francisco, et al., eds. (1980–), Diccionario Griego-Español, Madrid: CSIC, http://dge.cchs.csic.es/xdge