# socha
## Czech
### Etymology

Inherited from Old Czech *socha meant “mast, pillar, column” and was derived from Proto-Slavic *soxa (“crotch of a tree, trunk ending with a branch stub”) with unsure origins. The current Czech and Slovak meaning derives from the fact such pillars in homes were ornamented with wood carvings.

### Pronunciation

* IPA: [ˈsoxa]
* Audio:(file)

### Noun

socha f (diminutive soška)
* (sculpture) statue
* (art, sculpture) sculpture (work of art)
    Socha malého chlapce. ― A statue of a little boy.

#### Derived terms

* sochař
* sochařství
* sousoší

### References

* ↑ Jiří Rejzek (2007) “socha”, in Český etymologický slovník (in Czech), Leda
* ↑ Václav Machek (1968) Etymologický slovník jazyka českého [Etymological Dictionary of the Czech Language], 2nd edition, Prague: Academia

### Further reading

* “socha”, in Příruční slovník jazyka českého (in Czech), 1935–1957
* “socha”, in Slovník spisovného jazyka českého (in Czech), 1960–1971, 1989
* “socha”, in Internetová jazyková příručka (in Czech), 2008–2025

## Lower Sorbian
### Etymology

From Proto-Slavic *soxa, from Proto-Indo-European *sokh₂o-. Cognate with Upper Sorbian socha, Polish socha, Czech socha (“statue, sculpture”), Serbo-Croatian soha, and Ukrainian соха (soxa).

### Pronunciation

* IPA: /ˈsɔxa/

### Noun

socha f (diminutive soška)
* crotch of a tree
* branched support pole

#### Declension
### Further reading

* Muka, Arnošt (1921, 1928) “socha”, in Słownik dolnoserbskeje rěcy a jeje narěcow (in German), St. Petersburg, Prague: ОРЯС РАН, ČAVU; Reprinted Bautzen: Domowina-Verlag, 2008
* Starosta, Manfred (1999) “socha”, in Dolnoserbsko-nimski słownik / Niedersorbisch-deutsches Wörterbuch (in German), Bautzen: Domowina-Verlag

## Polish
### Etymology

Inherited from Old Polish socha, from Proto-Slavic *soxa.

### Pronunciation

* IPA: /ˈsɔ.xa/
* (Greater Poland):
** (Western Greater Poland) IPA: /ˈsɔ.xa/
* Audio:(file)
* Rhymes: -ɔxa
* Syllabification: so‧cha
* Homophone: Socha

### Noun

socha f (diminutive soszka)
* (agriculture) sokha
* (wooden architecture) vertical forked post
* (dialectal) Y-shaped tree trunk or branch
* (Western Greater Poland, Przemyśl) pole of a well

#### Declension
### Further reading

* socha in Wielki słownik języka polskiego, Instytut Języka Polskiego PAN
* socha in Polish dictionaries at PWN
* Oskar Kolberg (1877) “socha”, in “Rzecz o mowie ludu wielkopolskiego”, in Zbiór wiadomości do antropologii krajowéj (in Polish), volume 1, III (Materyjały etnologiczne), page 28
* Aleksander Saloni (1908) “socha”, in “Lud rzeszowski”, in Materyały Antropologiczno-Archeologiczne i Etnograficzne (in Polish), volume 10, Kraków: Akademia Umiejętności, page 341

## Slovak
### Etymology

Inherited from Proto-Slavic *soxa.

### Pronunciation

* IPA: [ˈsɔxa]

### Noun

socha f (relational adjective sošný or sochový, diminutive soška or sôška)
* statue
* sculpture (work of art)

#### Related terms

* sochár
* sochársky
* sochárstvo
* sošne
* sošnosť

### Further reading

* “socha”, in Slovníkový portál Jazykovedného ústavu Ľ. Štúra SAV [Dictionary portal of the Ľ. Štúr Institute of Linguistics, Slovak Academy of Science] (in Slovak), https://slovnik.juls.savba.sk, 2003–2025