# αἷμα
## 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 related to 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: /hâi̯.ma/ → /ˈɛ.ma/ → /ˈe.ma/
* (5th BCE Attic) IPA: /hâi̯.ma/
* (1st CE Egyptian) IPA: /ˈ(h)ɛ.ma/
* (4th CE Koine) IPA: /ˈɛ.ma/
* (10th CE Byzantine) IPA: /ˈe.ma/
* (15th CE Constantinopolitan) IPA: /ˈe.ma/

### Noun

αἷμᾰ • (haîmă) n (genitive αἵμᾰτος); third declension
* blood
* bloodshed; murder
* race; stock; kin, relationship by blood

#### Synonyms

* ἔαρ (éar) (Homeric)

#### Derived terms

* αἱμάτινος (haimátinos)
* αἱμο- (haimo-)
* αἱμορροΐς (haimorrhoḯs)
* ἀναιμία (anaimía)

#### Descendants

* Byzantine Greek: αἷμα (haîma), αἷμαν (haîman), αἷμας (haîmas), γαῖμα (gaîma)
   * Greek: αίμα (aíma)
* Pontic Greek: γαίμα (gaíma)
* → Bulgarian: -емия (-emija)
* → Catalan: -èmia
* → Danish: -æmi
* → German: hämato-, hämat-, -hämie, -ämie
* → English: haemato-, haema-, -aemia, haemal
* → Spanish: -emia
* → French: -émie
* → Irish: -éime
* → Italian: -emia
* → Dutch: -emie
* → Polish: hemato-, -emia (learned)
* → Russian: -емия (-emija)
* → Serbo-Croatian:
    Cyrillic script: -емија
    Latin script: -emija

### References

* 1 2 Beekes, Robert S. P. (2010) Etymological Dictionary of Greek (Leiden Indo-European Etymological Dictionary Series; 10), volume I, with the assistance of Lucien van Beek, Leiden, Boston: Brill, →ISBN, pages 38–39
* 1 2 3 Frisk, Hjalmar (1960–1972) “αἷμα”, in Griechisches etymologisches Wörterbuch (in German), Heidelberg: Carl Winter
* ↑ Chantraine, Pierre (1968–1980) “αἷμα”, in Dictionnaire étymologique de la langue grecque (in French), Paris: Klincksieck
* ↑ Douglas Harper (2001–2025) “-emia”, in Online Etymology Dictionary.
* ↑ Pokorny, Julius (1959) Indogermanisches etymologisches Wörterbuch [Indo-European Etymological Dictionary] (in German), Bern, München: Francke Verlag
* ↑ αἷμα in the Diccionario Griego–Español en línea (2006–2025)
* ↑ Keyser, Paul (2016) “A Semitic Etymology for Greek αἷμα”, in Semitica, volume 58, Leuven: Peeters, →DOI, pages 289-295

### 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 (2006–2025)
* Woodhouse, S. C. (1910) English–Greek Dictionary: A Vocabulary of the Attic Language‎, 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) [Concise Dictionary of the Kriaras' Dictionary of Medieval Vulgar Greek Literature (1100–1669) Vols. 1–14. Vols 15- under I. Kazazes.)] (in Greek), Thessaloniki: Centre for the Greek language Online edition (abbreviations) Printed edition 2022: 22 vols.)