lekamen

lekamen m

1. definite singular of lekam

From Old Swedish līkami, līkamber, from Old Norse líkami, líkamr, from Proto-Germanic *līkahamô. Cognate with Icelandic líkami, Danish legeme, Dutch lichaam, German Leichnam. The final -n originally comes from the definite article.

lekamen c

1. (archaic, uncountable) body
   • 1908, Verner von Heidenstam, Svenskarna och deras hövdingar [The Swedes and their Chieftains]‎^[1], Albert Bonniers förlag, accessed at Litteraturbanken.se, courtesy of Göteborgs universitetsbibliotek, archived from the original on 31 October 2025:

     Folket sade då, att han var en sannhelig man, och hans lekamen blev svept i dyrbara tyger.

     The people then said that he was a truly holy man, and his body was wrapped in sumptuous fabrics.

   • 1917, 1773 års bibelkommission [The Swedish Bible Commission of 1773], “Matteusevangeliet [Matthew] 26:26”, in 1917 års kyrkobibel‎^[2], © Svenska Bibelsällskapet, accessed at Bible.com, archived from the original on 31 October 2025:

     Jesus [tog] ett bröd och välsignade det och bröt det och gav åt lärjungarna och sade: »[Tag] och [ät]; detta är min lekamen.»

     Jesus took some bread, and blessed it, and broke it, and gave it to the disciples, and said, "Take and eat; this is my body."

   • 1928, Nathan Söderblom, Kristi pinas historia [The Story of Christ's Passion]‎^[3], Svenska Kyrkans Diakonistyrelses bokförlag, accessed at Litteraturbanken.se, courtesy of Göteborgs universitetsbibliotek, archived from the original on 31 October 2025:

     Lasarus fortsatte sitt jordeliv med [samma] kropp, som […] legat i graven. Om Kristus berättas ingenting liknande. Han uppenbarade sig i vad Paulus kallar en förklarad lekamen.

     Lazarus continued his earthly life with the same body that had lain in the tomb. Nothing similar is said of Christ. He revealed himself in what Paul calls a transfigured body.

Although archaic, this word persists in certain religious phrasing, such as Kristi lekamen (“the Body of Christ”).

• lekamen in Svenska Akademiens ordböcker
• lekamen in Elof Hellquist, Svensk etymologisk ordbok (1st ed., 1922)

• kamelen