μίασμα Ancient Greek · revision 2293

+ {{infobox|confidence=established|formation=derivation|attested=6th–5th century BC, Aeschylus|origins=grc μιαίνω}}

+

+ ==Pronunciation==

+ * IPA (5th-century BC Attic): /mí.az.ma/^(Wiktionary)

+ * IPA (4th-century AD Koine): /ˈmi.az.ma/^(Wiktionary)

+ * IPA (10th-century Byzantine): /ˈmi.az.ma/^(Wiktionary)

+

+ ==Forms==

+ '''μῐ́ασμᾰ''' (míasma) ''n'' (genitive μῐάσμᾰτος); third declension^(Wiktionary)

+

+ ==Etymology==

+ It is derived from [[μιαίνω|tr=miaínō|t=to stain, defile]] with the suffix -μα.^(LSJ 1940)^(Wiktionary)^(BDAG 2000) μιαίνω has no clear cognates: the alternation r/n in μιαίνω and [[μιαρός|tr=miarós]] looks Indo-European, and Beekes mentions a root [[ine-pro|*smey-|t=to smear]], but he concludes that without an etymology the verb is rather Pre-Greek.^(Beekes 2010)

+

+ ==Earliest recorded meaning==

+ Aeschylus uses it often for the stain of bloodshed and the taint of guilt.^(LSJ 1940)^(CGL 2021)

+

+ ==Semantic evolution==

+ In tragedy and in the orators it is the ritual pollution incurred by shedding blood, breaking religious taboos or contact with birth and death, which could infect individuals, households and cities.^(CGL 2021)^(LSJ 1940) It could also be the polluted person: Aeschylus calls Clytemnestra a “parricidal pollution”, and in Sophocles' ''Oedipus the King'' the city must drive out the pollution of the land.^(LSJ 1940)^(CGL 2021) Antiphon and Plato's ''Laws'' also use it.^(LSJ 1940)^(CGL 2021)

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+ The Hippocratic writers used it more generally of air tainted with disease-bearing pollutions.^(LSJ 1940)^(Πάπυρος) The Septuagint and the New Testament use it for defilement and for a shameful deed, as in “the defilements of the world” in 2 Peter.^(Lust 2003)^(BDAG 2000) Plutarch uses it for a blemish.^(CGL 2021)

+

+ Modern Greek [[m|el|μίασμα|tr=míazma]] means something morally or ideologically polluting, and a disease-bearing agent.^(Triantafyllidis 1998)^(Πάπυρος) English [[m|en|miasma]] (1660s) came through Modern Latin for noxious vapours believed to cause disease.^(Etymonline)

+

+ ==Timeline==

+ * 6th–5th century BC – Aeschylus uses it for the pollution of bloodshed.^(LSJ 1940)^(CGL 2021)^(DGE)

+ * 5th century BC – Sophocles speaks of driving the pollution from the land.^(LSJ 1940)^(DGE)

+ * 5th century BC – the Hippocratic writers use it of polluted air.^(LSJ 1940)^(DGE)

+ * 1st century AD – 2 Peter speaks of the defilements of the world.^(BDAG 2000)

+ * 1660s – English ''miasma''.^(Etymonline)

+

+ ==Meanings==

+ ===Noun===

+ # A stain, defilement, ritual [[m|en|pollution]], especially from bloodshed; the taint of guilt.^(LSJ 1940)^(CGL 2021)

+ # A source of pollution: a polluted person.^(LSJ 1940)^(CGL 2021)

+ # ''(medicine)'' A disease-bearing pollution of the air.^(LSJ 1940)^(Πάπυρος)

+ # ''(Septuagint, New Testament)'' A shameful deed, crime.^(BDAG 2000)^(Lust 2003)

+ # A blemish.^(CGL 2021)

+

+ ==Word family==

+ * [[μιαρός|tr=miarós]]

+

+ ==Related words==

+ * [[μιαίνω|tr=miaínō]]

+ * [[en|miasma]]

+

+ ==References==

+ {{reflist}}