ἔκζεμα

Forms

ἔκζεμᾰ (ékzema) n (genitive ἐκζέμᾰτος); third declension^[1] Also spelled ἔκζεσμα (ékzesma).^[1][2]

Etymology

It is from Ancient Greek ἐκζέω (ekzéō, “to boil over, break out”) + -μα (-ma), literally “something that boils out”.^[1][3][4] The verb is ζέω (zéō, “to boil, seethe”) with the prefix ἐκ- (ek-, “out”).^[5] Beekes lists the noun and its variant with ⟨σ⟩ among the verb's derivatives.^[5]

Beekes derives the simple verb from Proto-Indo-European *yes- (“to boil, foam”), a thematic root present matching Sanskrit and Germanic verbs such as Old High German jesan (“to ferment, foam”), and also continued in Albanian ziej (“to boil”).^[5]

Earliest recorded meaning

The earliest record is in the physician Bacchius of Tanagra, quoted by Erotian, for an eruption of the skin.^[2]

Semantic evolution

The word stayed a medical term for a hot eruption of the skin: Dioscorides uses it in his work on drugs, a medical papyrus pairs it with itch, and Archigenes, quoted by Aëtius, pairs it with ulcers.^[2][6] The astrologer Vettius Valens has it too, and the Geoponica speak of eruptions round the mouth.^[2] Pape explains it as a rash driven out by heat.^[7]

It was borrowed into Latin as eczema, the source of the English medical term eczema, first recorded in 1753; ancient physicians are said to have given the name to any fiery pustule on the skin.^[1][4] Modern Greek έκζεμα (ékzema) is a learned borrowing of the Hellenistic word, naming an inflammatory skin disease.^[8]

Timeline

• 3rd–2nd century BC – Bacchius of Tanagra, quoted by Erotian, uses it for a skin eruption.^[2]
• 1st century AD – Dioscorides uses it in his work on drugs.^[2][6]
• 2nd century AD – Archigenes pairs eruptions with ulcers, and Vettius Valens uses the word.^[2]
• 10th century AD – The Geoponica use it of eruptions round the mouth.^[2]
• 1753 – English first records eczema.^[4]
• Modern times – Modern Greek has it as a learned medical word for an inflammatory skin disease.^[8]

Meanings

Noun

1. (medicine) A hot eruption of the skin, eczema.^[2][3][1]

Related words

• ζέω (zéō)
• ἐκζέω (ekzéō)
• ἀπόζεμα (apózema)
• ζεστός (zestós)
• Latin eczema
• English eczema

References

1. ^ a b c d e f g h Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
2. ^ a b c d e f g h i Rodríguez Adrados, Francisco, et al., eds. (1980–), Diccionario Griego-Español, Madrid: CSIC, http://dge.cchs.csic.es/xdge
3. ^ a b Bailly, Anatole (2020), Dictionnaire grec-français, Bailly 2020 Hugo Chávez ed., ed. Gérard Gréco et al.
4. ^ a b c Harper, Douglas. Online Etymology Dictionary, https://www.etymonline.com
5. ^ 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
6. ^ a b Keersmaekers, Alek (2021–2025), GLAUx: The Greek Language Automated corpus, https://github.com/alekkeersmaekers/glaux
7. ^ Pape, Wilhelm (1914), Griechisch-deutsches Handwörterbuch, 3rd ed., rev. Max Sengebusch, Braunschweig: Vieweg
8. ^ a b Ινστιτούτο Νεοελληνικών Σπουδών (Ίδρυμα Μανόλη Τριανταφυλλίδη) (1998), Λεξικό της κοινής νεοελληνικής, Thessaloniki: Aristotle University of Thessaloniki