ζημία

Ancient Greek

Alternative forms

ζᾱμῐ́ᾱ (zāmĭ́ā) — Doric

Etymology

Sommer connected the word with ζῆλος (zêlos, “fervour, zeal”), ζητέω (zētéō, “to inquire, search, investigate”), and δίζημαι (dízēmai, “to seek out, look for”), based on a breakdown of the word as ζη-μία (zē-mía), which suggests a derivation from Proto-Indo-European *yeh₂- (“to go, seek”). For the semantic association between "zeal" and "fine, penalty", compare the Germanic pair Old English anda (“envy, jealousy”) with Old High German antōn (“to punish”) (which stem from a different root, Proto-Indo-European *h₂enh₁- (“to breathe, blow”)). Connection with Sanskrit दीन (dīná, “poor, miserable, wretched”) and δειλός (deilós, “cowardly”) appears unlikely.^[1]

Pronunciation

(5^th BCE Attic) IPA^(key): /zdɛː.mí.aː/
(1^st CE Egyptian) IPA^(key): /ze̝ˈmi.a/
(4^th CE Koine) IPA^(key): /ziˈmi.a/
(10^th CE Byzantine) IPA^(key): /ziˈmi.a/
(15^th CE Constantinopolitan) IPA^(key): /ziˈmi.a/

Noun

ζημῐ́ᾱ • (zēmĭ́ā) f (genitive ζημῐ́ᾱς); first declension

loss, damage
Antonym: κέρδος (kérdos)
penalty in money, fine
Synonyms: θωή (thōḗ), ποινή (poinḗ)
(in general) penalty
expense, expenditure
dead loss, bad bargain

Inflection

First declension of ἡ ζημῐ́ᾱ; τῆς ζημῐ́ᾱς (Attic)

Case / #	Singular	Dual	Plural
Nominative	ἡ ζημῐ́ᾱ hē zēmĭ́ā	τὼ ζημῐ́ᾱ tṑ zēmĭ́ā	αἱ ζημῐ́αι hai zēmĭ́ai
Genitive	τῆς ζημῐ́ᾱς tês zēmĭ́ās	τοῖν ζημῐ́αιν toîn zēmĭ́ain	τῶν ζημῐῶν tôn zēmĭôn
Dative	τῇ ζημῐ́ᾳ tēî zēmĭ́āi	τοῖν ζημῐ́αιν toîn zēmĭ́ain	ταῖς ζημῐ́αις taîs zēmĭ́ais
Accusative	τὴν ζημῐ́ᾱν tḕn zēmĭ́ān	τὼ ζημῐ́ᾱ tṑ zēmĭ́ā	τᾱ̀ς ζημῐ́ᾱς tā̀s zēmĭ́ās
Vocative	ζημῐ́ᾱ zēmĭ́ā	ζημῐ́ᾱ zēmĭ́ā	ζημῐ́αι zēmĭ́ai
Notes:	This table gives Attic inflectional endings. For declension in other dialects, see Appendix:Ancient Greek dialectal declension.

Derived terms

ἀζημῐ́ᾱ (azēmĭ́ā)
ἐπῐζήμῐος (epĭzḗmĭos)
ζημῐᾰ́ζω (zēmĭắzō)
ζημῐοπρᾰκτέω (zēmĭoprăktéō)
ζημῐόψῡχος (zēmĭópsūkhos)
ζημῐόω (zēmĭóō)
ζημῐώδης (zēmĭṓdēs)
ζημῐ́ωμᾰ (zēmĭ́ōmă)
ζημῐ́ωσῐς (zēmĭ́ōsĭs)
ζημῐωτής (zēmĭōtḗs)
ζημῐωτῐκός (zēmĭōtĭkós)

Descendants

→ Latin: zāmia (through Doric)

References

^ Beekes, Robert S. P. (2010), “ζημία”, in Etymological Dictionary of Greek (Leiden Indo-European Etymological Dictionary Series; 10), with the assistance of Lucien van Beek, Leiden, Boston: Brill, →ISBN, page 500