αἷμα

See also: αίμα

Ancient Greek

Etymology

Uncertain and contested, as many competing theories exist. One possibility is from Proto-Indo-European *sai- (“thick or viscous liquid”), related to Proto-West Germanic *saim (whence German Seim (“viscous fluid”)), although some sources reject this as phonologically improbable. A different theory relates it to Proto-Indo-European *s(w)okʷós (“plant juice, resin”), which would make it a doublet of ὀπός (opós, “plant juice”). Other suggestions include a relation to Ancient Greek αἰονάω (aionáō, “to moisten”) or to Ancient Greek ἵημι (híēmi, “to throw, to flow”), thereby making it a doublet of ἧμα (hêma, “projectile”). Finally, a Northwest Semitic borrowing has been posited, related to Aramaic חַיִּים (ḥayyim, “life”), Hebrew חַיִּים (ḥayím, “life”), Phoenician ‎𐤇𐤉𐤌 (‎ḥym, “long life”).

Pronunciation

 

• IPA^(key): /hâi̯.ma/ → /ˈɛ.ma/ → /ˈe.ma/

• (5^th BCE Attic) IPA^(key): /hâi̯.ma/
• (1^st CE Egyptian) IPA^(key): /ˈ(h)ɛ.ma/
• (4^th CE Koine) IPA^(key): /ˈɛ.ma/
• (10^th CE Byzantine) IPA^(key): /ˈe.ma/
• (15^th CE Constantinopolitan) IPA^(key): /ˈe.ma/

Noun

αἷμᾰ • (haîma) n (genitive αἵμᾰτος); third declension

1. blood
2. bloodshed; murder
3. race; stock; kin, relationship by blood

Inflection

Third declension of τὸ αἷμᾰ; τοῦ αἵμᾰτος (Attic)

Case / #	Singular	Dual	Plural
Nominative	τὸ αἷμᾰ tò haîma	τὼ αἵμᾰτε tṑ haímate	τᾰ̀ αἵμᾰτᾰ tà haímata
Genitive	τοῦ αἵμᾰτος toû haímatos	τοῖν αἱμᾰ́τοιν toîn haimátoin	τῶν αἱμᾰ́των tôn haimátōn
Dative	τῷ αἵμᾰτῐ tôi haímati	τοῖν αἱμᾰ́τοιν toîn haimátoin	τοῖς αἵμᾰσῐ / αἵμᾰσῐν toîs haímasi(n)
Accusative	τὸ αἷμᾰ tò haîma	τὼ αἵμᾰτε tṑ haímate	τᾰ̀ αἵμᾰτᾰ tà haímata
Vocative	αἷμᾰ haîma	αἵμᾰτε haímate	αἵμᾰτᾰ haímata
Notes:	This table gives Attic inflectional endings. For declension in other dialects, see Appendix:Ancient Greek dialectal declension.

Third declension of αἷμᾰ; αἵμᾰτος (Epic)

Case / #	Singular	Dual	Plural
Nominative	αἷμᾰ haîma	αἵμᾰτε haímate	αἵμᾰτᾰ haímata
Genitive	αἵμᾰτος haímatos	αἱμᾰ́τοιῐν haimátoiin	αἱμᾰ́των haimátōn
Dative	αἵμᾰτῐ haímati	αἱμᾰ́τοιῐν haimátoiin	αἵμᾰσῐ / αἵμᾰσῐν / αἱμᾰ́τεσσῐ / αἱμᾰ́τεσσῐν / αἱμᾰ́τεσῐ / αἱμᾰ́τεσῐν haímasi(n) / haimátessi(n) / haimátesi(n)
Accusative	αἷμᾰ haîma	αἵμᾰτε haímate	αἵμᾰτᾰ haímata
Vocative	αἷμᾰ haîma	αἵμᾰτε haímate	αἵμᾰτᾰ haímata
Notes:	Dialects other than Attic are not well attested. Some forms may be based on conjecture. Use with caution.

Synonyms

• ἔαρ (éar) (Homeric)

Derived terms

• αἱμάτινος (haimátinos)
• ἀναιμία (anaimía)

Descendants

• Byzantine Greek: αἷμα (haîma), αἷμαν (haîman), αἷμας (haîmas), γαῖμα (gaîma)

• Greek: αίμα (aíma)

• Pontic Greek: γαίμα (gaíma)
• → Bulgarian: хемо- (hemo-), -емия (-emija)
• → Catalan: hemo-, -èmia
• → Danish: hæmo-, -æmi
• → German: hämo-, häm-, hämato-, hämat-, -hämie, -ämie
• → English: haemato-, haemo-, haema-, -aemia, haemal
• → Spanish: hemo-, -emia
• → French: hémo-, -émie
• → Irish: haema-, -éime
• → Italian: emo-, -emia
• → Dutch: hemo-, -emie
• → Polish: hemo-, hemato-, -emia
• → Russian: гемо- (gemo-), -емия (-emija)
• → Serbo-Croatian:

  Cyrillic script: хемо-, -емија

  Latin script: hemo-, -emija

Further reading

• “αἷμα”, in Liddell & Scott (1940) A Greek–English Lexicon, Oxford: Clarendon Press
• “αἷμα”, in Liddell & Scott (1889) An Intermediate Greek–English Lexicon, New York: Harper & Brothers
• “αἷμα”, in Autenrieth, Georg (1891) A Homeric Dictionary for Schools and Colleges, New York: Harper and Brothers
• Beekes, Robert S. P. (2010) Etymological Dictionary of Greek (Leiden Indo-European Etymological Dictionary Series; 10), with the assistance of Lucien van Beek, Leiden, Boston: Brill, →ISBN
• αἷμα in Cunliffe, Richard J. (1924) A Lexicon of the Homeric Dialect: Expanded Edition, Norman: University of Oklahoma Press, published 1963
• “αἷμα”, in Slater, William J. (1969) Lexicon to Pindar, Berlin: Walter de Gruyter
• G129 in Strong, James (1979) Strong’s Exhaustive Concordance to the Bible
• αἷμα in the Diccionario Griego–Español en línea (2006–2024)
• Woodhouse, S. C. (1910) English–Greek Dictionary: A Vocabulary of the Attic Language‎^[1], London: Routledge & Kegan Paul Limited.
  • blood idem, page 84.
  • gore idem, page 367.
  • life blood idem, page 489.
• αἷμα - Kriaras, Emmanuel (1969-) Επιτομή του Λεξικού της Μεσαιωνικής Ελληνικής Δημώδους Γραμματείας (Epitomí tou Lexikoú tis Mesaionikís Ellinikís Dimódous Grammateías) (in Greek), Thessaloniki: Centre for the Greek language Online edition (abbreviations) Printed edition 2022: 22 vols.)