soma

Forms

sōma n (genitive sōmatis); third declension^[1][2] The spellings sūma and zōma are also recorded.^[2]

Etymology

It is borrowed from Ancient Greek σῶμα (sôma, “body”).^[1][3][2]

Earliest recorded meaning

Köbler's first record is in the life of Saint Gangulf (Vita Gangulfi), written after 975–994, where it means a body or corpse.^[2]

Semantic evolution

In medieval Latin the word meant a body, especially a dead body.^[1][2] Du Cange cites it in the sense “body” from the glossary of Papias and a charter of King Athelstan of England.^[3]

It also came to mean a book: Du Cange connects this with a Greek–Latin glossary that explains Greek σωμάτιον (sōmátion) as “book, parchment”, and quotes Amalarius.^[3][1]

Timeline

• after 975–994 – The Vita Gangulfi uses it of a body.^[2]

Meanings

Noun

1. A body; a corpse.^[1][3][2]
2. A book, a written work.^[1][2]

Usage notes

A second medieval soma (also somma) is a form of sagma, a pack-saddle or load.^[1][2][3] Du Cange also records soma as a spelling of summa, a sum of money, in a charter of 1438.^[3]

References

1. ^ a b c d e f g Niermeyer, J. F. (1976), Mediae Latinitatis Lexicon Minus, Leiden: Brill
2. ^ a b c d e f g h i Köbler, Gerhard (2010), Lateinisches Abkunfts- und Wirkungswörterbuch für Altertum und Mittelalter, online ed., koeblergerhard.de
3. ^ a b c d e f du Cange, Charles du Fresne, et al. (1883–1887), Glossarium mediae et infimae latinitatis, augmented ed. by Léopold Favre, Niort: L. Favre