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ψυχή

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Pronunciation

  • IPA (5th-century BC Attic): /psyː.kʰɛ̌ː/[1]
  • IPA (4th-century AD Koine): /psyˈçi/[1]
  • IPA (10th-century Byzantine): /psyˈçi/[1]

Forms

ψῡχή (psūkhḗ) f (genitive ψῡχῆς); first declension[1] Doric ψυχά.[2][1]

Etymology

It is formed from ψύχω (psúkhō, “to breathe, blow”), and so first meant “breath”;[1][3][4][5] compare πνεῦμα (pneûma) beside πνέω (pnéō, “to blow”), and Latin animus and anima beside Sanskrit अनिति (ániti, “breathes”).[3] In the sense “to blow” ψύχω gave way to πνέω and came to mean “to cool”, whence ψῦχος (psûkhos, “cold”) and ψυχρός (psukhrós, “cold”).[3][5] LSJ remarks that Homer's use of ψυχή gives little support to the derivation from “breathe”.[6]

The verb itself is of uncertain origin: it may go back to Proto-Indo-European *bʰes- (“to blow”), with Sanskrit अप्सु (ápsu, “without breath”), though the NIL marks the connection as doubtful.[7] Beekes doubts an Indo-European origin and thinks it Pre-Greek.[7][4][1]

Earliest recorded meaning

In Homer it is the life of a man or animal, which leaves the body at death, breathed out or escaping through a wound, and leaves a man who faints; it is staked and lost in battle.[2][6][8] It is also the soul of the dead, which goes down to Hades as a ghost, like the living man in every way.[6][2]

Semantic evolution

In lyric and tragedy it remained life, and could be used of what is dear as life: in Hesiod money is “life” to mortals, and in Euripides children are.[6][2] It also became the conscious self, the seat of emotions, desires and thoughts, and a person's spirit, courage and character, as in Pindar and Xenophon.[6][2]

The soul as immaterial and immortal is first found in Pindar.[6] Herodotus reports the belief that the human soul is immortal, and an epitaph of the 5th century BC says that the upper air received the souls and the earth the bodies.[6] Plato argues for the immortality of the soul in the Phaedo and the Phaedrus and speaks of a world-soul; for Heraclitus it is linked with fire, for Aristotle it is the underlying substance of living things.[2][6] By resemblance it named a butterfly or moth, in Aristotle and Theophrastus, and Apuleius tells the allegory of Psyche and Eros.[6]

In the Septuagint it renders the Hebrew word for life, soul and self, and also a person.[9] The New Testament uses it for life, as in “what shall a man give in exchange for his life?” and the good shepherd who lays down his life for the sheep, and πᾶσα ψυχή, “every person”.[6][10][11]

Modern Greek ψυχή (psichí) is the soul, the spirit, the emotions and courage;[12][5] the diminutive ψυχάρι (psychári) means a butterfly.[3]

Timeline

  • Homer – The Iliad and the Odyssey use it for life and for the souls of the dead.[6][8]
  • Before the 6th century BC – Hesiod calls money “life” to mortals.[6][13]
  • 6th–5th century BC – Pindar speaks of the soul as immortal.[6][13]
  • 5th century BC – An epitaph says the upper air received the souls of the dead.[6]
  • 5th–4th century BC – Plato argues for the immortality of the soul.[6][13]
  • 4th century BC – Aristotle uses it for a butterfly.[6][13]
  • 1st century AD – The New Testament uses πᾶσα ψυχή for every person.[6][10]

Meanings

Noun

  1. Life, the life-force of a person or animal.[6][2]
  2. One's life, as something risked, saved or lost.[6][2]
  3. The soul of a dead person; a ghost.[6][2]
  4. The immaterial and immortal soul.[6][2]
  5. The conscious self, heart or mind; spirit, courage; character.[6][2]
  6. A person, a living being.[6][2]
  7. (philosophy) The source of life and consciousness; the world-soul.[2][6]
  8. Something dear as life.[6][2]
  9. A butterfly or moth.[6]

Word family

  • ἐλευθερόψυχος (eleutherópsūkhos)
  • εὔψυχος (eúpsūkhos)
  • ψυχικός (psūkhikós)
  • ψυχικός (psukhikós)
  • ἔμψυχος (émpsukhos)
  • ψυχάριον (psukhárion)
  • ψύχω (psúkhō)
  • ψυχρός (psukhrós)
  • English psyche

Usage notes

Plato's Cratylus and Aristotle discuss ancient derivations of the word.[6] Commentators report that Heraclitus linked the soul with cold, through ψύχω “to cool”.[5]

References

  1. ^ a b c d e f g Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
  2. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m n Diggle, James, et al., eds. (2021), The Cambridge Greek Lexicon, Cambridge: Cambridge University Press
  3. ^ a b c d Frisk, Hjalmar (1960–1972), Griechisches etymologisches Wörterbuch, 3 vols, Heidelberg: Carl Winter
  4. ^ a b Πάπυρος–Larousse–Britannica, Μέγα Λεξικό της Ελληνικής Γλώσσας, Athens: Πάπυρος
  5. ^ a b c d Etygram: ancient etymologies of Greek words, CEPAM, Université Côte d'Azur, http://appsweb-cepam.unice.fr/etygram
  6. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m n o p q r s t u v w x y z 27 Liddell, Henry George; Scott, Robert; Jones, Henry Stuart (1940), A Greek-English Lexicon, 9th ed., Oxford: Clarendon Press
  7. ^ a b Wodtko, Dagmar S.; Irslinger, Britta; Schneider, Carolin (2008), Nomina im indogermanischen Lexikon, Heidelberg: Winter
  8. ^ a b Cunliffe, Richard John (1924), A Lexicon of the Homeric Dialect, London: Blackie and Son
  9. ^ Lust, Johan; Eynikel, Erik; Hauspie, Katrin (2003), Greek-English Lexicon of the Septuagint, rev. ed., Stuttgart: Deutsche Bibelgesellschaft
  10. ^ 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
  11. ^ United Bible Societies (2023), UBS Dictionary of the Greek New Testament (revised Louw–Nida semantic domains), open-licence ed.
  12. ^ Ινστιτούτο Νεοελληνικών Σπουδών (Ίδρυμα Μανόλη Τριανταφυλλίδη) (1998), Λεξικό της κοινής νεοελληνικής, Thessaloniki: Aristotle University of Thessaloniki
  13. ^ a b c d Rodríguez Adrados, Francisco, et al., eds. (1980–), Diccionario Griego-Español, Madrid: CSIC, http://dge.cchs.csic.es/xdge