χάσμα

Forms

χᾰ́σμᾰ (khásma) n (genitive χᾰ́σμᾰτος); third declension^[1]

Etymology

It is formed from Ancient Greek χάσκω (kháskō, “to gape, yawn”) + -μα (-ma), a noun of result.^[1][2] Beekes notes that it can be derived from χάσκω (kháskō) or from the aorist χανεῖν (khaneîn), as φάσμα (phásma) is from φαίνω (phaínō), while LSJ refers it to χαίνω (khaínō), the later present of the same verb.^[3][4][5]

Beekes traces the verb to Proto-Hellenic *kʰan-, from Proto-Indo-European *ǵʰh₂n-, the zero grade of *ǵʰeh₂n- (“to break open, yawn”).^[3] Cognate with Old Norse gan (“opening of the mouth”) and Old Norse gana (“to gape”).^[3] Ancient writers derived it differently: the grammarian Philoxenus took it from χάζω (kházō, “to give way”).^[6]

Earliest recorded meaning

It first appears in Hesiod's Theogony (740), for the great chasm of Τάρταρος (Tártaros).^[4][7][5]

Semantic evolution

Classical writers use it for any great opening: a chasm in the earth in Herodotus, Euripides and Plato, a cleft in a rock in Euripides, and in Plato's Republic the opening in the sky through which souls pass.^[4][7] Parmenides uses it of the gap between the opened leaves of a door, and Herodotus of the open expanse of the sea called the Aegean.^[4][7] In Euripides it is the gaping jaws of a lion, whose skin is worn as a headdress.^[4][7]

In the Gospel of Luke a great chasm separates Abraham from the place of torment.^[2][7] Aristotle and Posidonius named an earthquake that opens fissures χασματίας (khasmatías).^[3]

It was borrowed as Latin chasma, the source of English chasm, first recorded in the 1590s.^[8] The learned Modern Greek χάσμα (cházma) means a chasm or any deep opening, and also for a gap or great difference, as in the “generation gap”, a sense taken from English chasm.^[9][10]

Timeline

• Before the 6th century BC – Hesiod's Theogony uses it for the chasm of Tartarus.^[4][11]
• 6th–5th century BC – Parmenides uses it for the opening between the leaves of a door.^[4][7]
• 5th century BC – Herodotus uses it for a chasm in the earth and for the open sea.^[4][7]
• 5th century BC – Euripides uses it for the gaping jaws of a lion.^[4][7]
• 5th–4th century BC – Plato uses it for chasms in the earth and an opening in the sky.^[4][7]
• 1590s – English borrows chasm through Latin.^[8]
• Modern Greek – The learned χάσμα (cházma) also means a gap or a great difference.^[9][10]

Meanings

Noun

1. A yawning chasm, abyss, of Tartarus.^[4][7]
2. A chasm or cleft in the earth or in a rock.^[4][7]
3. Gaping jaws, an open mouth, of a lion or wolf.^[4][7]
4. Any wide opening: the gap between double doors; an open expanse of sea or sky.^[4][7]

Word family

• χασματίας (khasmatías)

Related words

• χάσκω (kháskō)
• χαίνω (khaínō)
• χάσμη (khásmē)
• χάος (kháos)
• Latin chasma
• English chasm

References

1. ^ a b c d e Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
2. ^ a b 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 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
4. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m n Liddell, Henry George; Scott, Robert; Jones, Henry Stuart (1940), A Greek-English Lexicon, 9th ed., Oxford: Clarendon Press
5. ^ a b Babiniotis, Georgios (2010), Ετυμολογικό λεξικό της νέας ελληνικής γλώσσας [Etymological Dictionary of Modern Greek], Athens: Κέντρο Λεξικολογίας
6. ^ Etygram: ancient etymologies of Greek words, CEPAM, Université Côte d'Azur, http://appsweb-cepam.unice.fr/etygram
7. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m Diggle, James, et al., eds. (2021), The Cambridge Greek Lexicon, Cambridge: Cambridge University Press
8. ^ a b Harper, Douglas. Online Etymology Dictionary, https://www.etymonline.com
9. ^ a b Ινστιτούτο Νεοελληνικών Σπουδών (Ίδρυμα Μανόλη Τριανταφυλλίδη) (1998), Λεξικό της κοινής νεοελληνικής, Thessaloniki: Aristotle University of Thessaloniki
10. ^ a b Πάπυρος–Larousse–Britannica, Μέγα Λεξικό της Ελληνικής Γλώσσας, Athens: Πάπυρος
11. ^ Keersmaekers, Alek (2021–2025), GLAUx: The Greek Language Automated corpus, https://github.com/alekkeersmaekers/glaux