ψυχή

See also: Ψυχή and ψυχῇ

Ancient Greek

Alternative forms

• ψῡχᾱ́ (psūkhā́) — Doric

Etymology

From ψῡ́χω (psū́khō, “I blow”) +‎ -η (-ē), but never had the meaning "breath", even in Homer.

Pronunciation

 

• IPA^(key): /psyː.kʰɛ̌ː/ → /psyˈçi/ → /psiˈçi/

• (5^th BCE Attic) IPA^(key): /psyː.kʰɛ̌ː/
• (1^st CE Egyptian) IPA^(key): /psyˈkʰe̝/
• (4^th CE Koine) IPA^(key): /psyˈçi/
• (10^th CE Byzantine) IPA^(key): /psyˈçi/
• (15^th CE Constantinopolitan) IPA^(key): /psiˈçi/

• Audio (Classical Attic):

  (file)

Noun

ψῡχή • (psūkhḗ) f (genitive ψῡχῆς); first declension

1. The animating principle of the human or animal body, vital spirit, soul, life (the animating principle of life).
   • 800 BCE – 600 BCE, Homer, Iliad 22.324 f.:

     […] φαίνετο δ’ ᾗ κληῖδες ἀπ’ ὤμων αὐχέν’ ἔχουσι / λαυκανίην, ἵνα τε ψυχῆς ὤκιστος ὄλεθρος·

     […] phaíneto d’ hêi klēîdes ap’ ṓmōn aukhén’ ékhousi / laukaníēn, hína te psukhês ṓkistos ólethros;

     • 1924 translation by Augustus Taber Murray

       […] but there was an opening where the collar bones part the neck and shoulders, even the gullet, / where destruction of life cometh most speedily;

   • 1st century CE,
     New Testament, Revelation 8:9, (text according to Stephanus [1550] and Scrivener [1894]):

     […] καὶ ἀπέθανεν τὸ τρίτον τῶν κτισμάτων τῶν ἐν τῇ θαλάσσῃ τὰ ἔχοντα ψυχὰς καὶ τὸ τρίτον τῶν πλοίων διεφθαρη.

     […] kaì apéthanen tò tríton tôn ktismátōn tôn en têi thalássēi tà ékhonta psukhàs kaì tò tríton tôn ploíōn diephtharē.

     • 1862 translation by Robert Young (Young’s Literal Translation)

       […] and die did the third of the creatures that […] in the sea, those having life, and the third of the ships were destroyed.

   1. (poetic) Life-breath, life-blood (‘the animating principle of life’ in corporeal interpretation).
      • 800 BCE – 600 BCE, Homer, Iliad 14.516–519:

        Ἀτρεΐδης δ’ ἄρ’ ἔπειθ’ Ὑπερήνορα ποιμένα λαῶν / οὖτα κατὰ λαπάρην, διὰ δ’ ἔντερα χαλκὸς ἄφυσσε
        δῃώσας: ψυχὴ δὲ κατ’ οὐταμένην ὠτειλὴν / ἔσσυτ’ ἐπειγομένη, τὸν δὲ σκότος ὄσσε κάλυψε.

        Atreḯdēs d’ ár’ épeith’ Huperḗnora poiména laôn / oûta katà lapárēn, dià d’ éntera khalkòs áphusse
        dēiṓsas: psukhḕ dè kat’ outaménēn ōteilḕn / éssut’ epeigoménē, tòn dè skótos ósse kálupse.

        • 1990 translation by Robert Fagles

          Menelaus took the hardened captain Hyperenor, / gouged his flank and the bronze ripped him open,
          spurting his entrails out — and his life[-blood], gushing forth / through the raw, yawning wound, went pulsing fast
          and the dark came swirling down across his eyes.

      • 800 BCE – 600 BCE, Homer, Iliad 16.505:

        […] τοῖο δ’ ἅμα ψυχήν τε καὶ ἔγχεος ἐξέρυσ’ αἰχμήν.

        […] toîo d’ háma psukhḗn te kaì énkheos exérus’ aikhmḗn.

        • 1990 translation by Robert Fagles

          […] so he dragged out both the man's life-breath and the weapon's point together.

   2. (philosophy, since the early physicists) Animating principle in primary substances, the source of life and consciousness.
      • Heraclitus, frag. 36 :

        ψυχῇσιν θάνατος ὕδωρ γενέσθαι, ὕδατι δὲ θάνατος γῆν γενέσθαι, ἐκ γῆς δὲ ὕδωρ γίνεται, ἐξ ὕδατος δὲ ψυχή.

        psukhêisin thánatos húdōr genésthai, húdati dè thánatos gên genésthai, ek gês dè húdōr gínetai, ex húdatos dè psukhḗ.

        • 1920 translation by John Burnet

          For it is death to souls to become water, and death to water to become earth. But water comes from earth; and from water, soul.

      • 384 BCE – 322 BCE, Aristotle, De anima 405a20:

        ἔοικε δὲ καὶ Θαλῆς ἐξ ὧν ἀπομνημονεύουσι κινητικόν τι τὴν ψυχὴν ὑπολαβεῖν, εἴπερ τὴν λίθον ἔφη ψυχὴν ἔχειν, ὅτι τὸν σίδηρον κινεῖ·

        éoike dè kaì Thalês ex hôn apomnēmoneúousi kinētikón ti tḕn psukhḕn hupolabeîn, eíper tḕn líthon éphē psukhḕn ékhein, hóti tòn sídēron kineî;

        • 1855 translation by Charles Collier

          Thales, too, from what has been recorded of him, seems to have assumed that the Vital Principle is something motive, since he said that the loadstone must have a Vital Principle because it gives motion to iron.

2. Animate existence, viewed as a possession, one’s life.
   • 800 BCE – 600 BCE, Homer, Iliad 9.322:

     […] αἰεὶ ἐμὴν ψυχὴν παραβαλλόμενος πολεμίζειν.

     […] aieì emḕn psukhḕn paraballómenos polemízein.

     • 1924 translation by Augustus Taber Murray

       […] ever staking my life in fight.

   • 800 BCE – 600 BCE, Homer, Odyssey 9.422 f.:

     πάντας δὲ δόλους καὶ μῆτιν ὕφαινον, / ὥς τε περὶ ψυχῆς· μέγα γὰρ κακὸν ἐγγύθεν ἦεν.

     pántas dè dólous kaì mêtin húphainon, / hṓs te perì psukhês; méga gàr kakòn engúthen êen.

     • 1862 translation by Augustus Taber Murray

       And I wove all manner of wiles and counsel, as a man will in a matter of life and death; for great was the evil that was nigh us.

3. The spirit or soul thought of as distinct from the body and leaving it at death (the immortal part of a person).
   • 800 BCE – 600 BCE, Homer, Iliad 1.1–5:

     μῆνιν ἄειδε θεὰ Πηληϊάδεω Ἀχιλῆος / οὐλομένην, ἣ μυρί’ Ἀχαιοῖς ἄλγε’ ἔθηκε,
     πολλὰς δ’ ἰφθίμους ψυχὰς Ἄϊδι προΐαψεν / ἡρώων, αὐτοὺς δὲ ἑλώρια τεῦχε κύνεσσιν
     οἰωνοῖσί τε πᾶσι, Διὸς δ’ ἐτελείετο βουλή.

     mênin áeide theà Pēlēïádeō Akhilêos / ouloménēn, hḕ murí’ Akhaioîs álge’ éthēke,
     pollàs d’ iphthímous psukhàs Áïdi proḯapsen / hērṓōn, autoùs dè helṓria teûkhe kúnessin
     oiōnoîsí te pâsi, Diòs d’ eteleíeto boulḗ.

     • 1990 translation by Robert Fagles

       Rage — Goddess, sing the rage of Peleus' son Achilles, / […] doomed, that cost the Achaeans countless losses,
       hurling down to the House of Death so many sturdy […] / great fighters’ souls, but made their bodies carrion,
       feasts for the dogs and birds, / and the will of Zeus was moving toward its end.

   • 800 BCE – 600 BCE, Homer, Iliad 5.696:

     […] τὸν δ’ ἔλιπε ψυχή, κατὰ δ’ ὀφθαλμῶν κέχυτ’ ἀχλύς·

     […] tòn d’ élipe psukhḗ, katà d’ ophthalmôn kékhut’ akhlús;

     • 1924 translation by Augustus Taber Murray

       […] and his spirit failed him, and down over his eyes a mist was shed.

   1. A disembodied spirit, a shade or ghost (the spirit of a dead person).
      • 800 BCE – 600 BCE, Homer, Odyssey, 23.362 f. and 24.1 f.:

        αὐτίκα γὰρ φάτις εἶσιν ἅμ’ ἠελίῳ ἀνιόντι / ἀνδρῶν μνηστήρων, οὓς ἔκτανον ἐν μεγάροισιν:

        ¶

        Ἑρμῆς δὲ ψυχὰς Κυλλήνιος ἐξεκαλεῖτο / ἀνδρῶν μνηστήρων: […]

        Robert Fagles’ translation (1996):

        [Go] quick as the rising sun the news will spread / of the suitors that I killed inside the house.

        ¶

        Now Cyllenian Hermes called away the suitors’ ghosts, […]

4. Spirit (animated attitude), conscious self, personality as centre of emotions, desires and affections, heart.
   • 522 BCE – 443 BCE, Pindar, Isthmian Ode 53–55:

     Θηβᾶν ἀπὸ Καδμεϊᾶν μορφὰν βραχύς, ψυχὰν δ’ ἄκαμπτος, προσπαλαίσων ἦλθ’ ἀνὴρ / τὰν πυροφόρον Λιβύαν, κρανίοις ὄφρα ξένων ναὸν Ποσειδάωνος ἐρέφοντα σχέθοι, / υἱὸς Ἀλκμήνας

     Thēbân apò Kadmeïân morphàn brakhús, psukhàn d’ ákamptos, prospalaísōn êlth’ anḕr / tàn purophóron Libúan, kraníois óphra xénōn naòn Poseidáōnos eréphonta skhéthoi, / huiòs Alkmḗnas

     • 1990 translation by Diane Svarlien

       And yet once there went from Thebes, Cadmus’ city, a hero short in stature but unflinching in spirit. This hero went to the house of Antaeus in grain-bearing Libya, to keep him from roofing Poseidon's temple with the skulls of strangers, Alcmena's son.

   • 430 BCE – 354 BCE, Xenophon, On Horsemanship 11.1:

     ἢν δέ τις ἄρα βουληθῇ καὶ πομπικῷ καὶ μετεώρῳ καὶ λαμπρῷ ἵππῳ χρήσασθαι, οὐ μάλα μὲν τὰ τοιαῦτα ἐκ παντὸς ἵππου γίγνεται, ἀλλὰ δεῖ ὑπάρξαι αὐτῷ καὶ τὴν ψυχὴν μεγαλόφρονα καὶ τὸ σῶμα εὔρωστον.

     ḕn dé tis ára boulēthêi kaì pompikôi kaì meteṓrōi kaì lamprôi híppōi khrḗsasthai, ou mála mèn tà toiaûta ek pantòs híppou gígnetai, allà deî hupárxai autôi kaì tḕn psukhḕn megalóphrona kaì tò sôma eúrōston.

     • c. 1898 translation by Henry Graham Dakyns

       If, however, the wish is to secure a horse adapted to parade and state processions, a high stepper and a showy animal, these are qualities not to be found combined in every horse, but to begin with, the animal must have high spirit and a stalwart body.

   1. (philosophy, since Platon) The spirit of the universe, the immaterial principle of movement and life.
      • 360 BCE, Plato, Timaeus 34b:

        ψυχὴν δὲ εἰς τὸ μέσον αὐτοῦ θεὶς διὰ παντός τε ἔτεινεν καὶ ἔτι ἔξωθεν τὸ σῶμα αὐτῇ περιεκάλυψεν, […]

        psukhḕn dè eis tò méson autoû theìs dià pantós te éteinen kaì éti éxōthen tò sôma autêi periekálupsen, […]

        • 1925 translation by W. R. M. Lamb

          And in the midst thereof He set Soul, which He stretched throughout the whole of it, and therewith He enveloped also the exterior of its body; […]

5. The mind (seat or organ of thought), (the faculty of) reason.
   • 430 BCE – 354 BCE, Xenophon, Economics 6.16:

     ἀλλ’ οὐκ ἄρα εἶχεν οὕτως, ἀλλ’ ἐνίους ἐδόκουν καταμανθάνειν τῶν καλῶν τὰς μορφὰς πάνυ μοχθηροὺς ὄντας τὰς ψυχάς.

     all’ ouk ára eîkhen hoútōs, all’ eníous edókoun katamanthánein tôn kalôn tàs morphàs pánu mokhthēroùs óntas tàs psukhás.

     • 1979 translation by E. C. Marchant, O. J. Todd and William Heinemann

       But after all, it was not so: I thought I discovered that some who were beautiful to look at were thoroughly depraved in their minds.

6. (rare, extended from the meaning ‘soul’) Butterfly.
   • 384 BCE – 322 BCE, Aristotle, History of Animals 5.19:

     Γίνονται δ’ αἱ μὲν καλούμεναι ψυχαὶ ἐκ τῶν καμπῶν, αἳ γίνονται ἐπὶ τῶν φύλλων τῶν χλωρῶν, καὶ μάλιστα ἐπὶ τῆς ῥαφάνου, ἣν καλοῦσί τινες κράμβην.

     Gínontai d’ hai mèn kaloúmenai psukhaì ek tôn kampôn, haì gínontai epì tôn phúllōn tôn khlōrôn, kaì málista epì tês rhaphánou, hḕn kaloûsí tines krámbēn.

     Those arise — those which one calls butterflies (psukhai) — out of those caterpillars which arise on leaves of green, especially on the [leaves] of the cabbage-plant (raphanos), which some call cabbage (krambē).

Inflection

First declension of ἡ ψῡχή; τῆς ψῡχῆς (Attic)

Case / #	Singular	Dual	Plural
Nominative	ἡ ψῡχή hē psūkhḗ	τὼ ψῡχᾱ́ tṑ psūkhā́	αἱ ψῡχαί hai psūkhaí
Genitive	τῆς ψῡχῆς tês psūkhês	τοῖν ψῡχαῖν toîn psūkhaîn	τῶν ψῡχῶν tôn psūkhôn
Dative	τῇ ψῡχῇ têi psūkhêi	τοῖν ψῡχαῖν toîn psūkhaîn	ταῖς ψῡχαῖς taîs psūkhaîs
Accusative	τὴν ψῡχήν tḕn psūkhḗn	τὼ ψῡχᾱ́ tṑ psūkhā́	τᾱ̀ς ψῡχᾱ́ς tā̀s psūkhā́s
Vocative	ψῡχή psūkhḗ	ψῡχᾱ́ psūkhā́	ψῡχαί psūkhaí
Notes:	This table gives Attic inflectional endings. For declension in other dialects, see Appendix:Ancient Greek dialectal declension.

Quotations

• 522 BCE – 443 BCE, Pindar, Nemean Ode 37–39:

  παῦροι δὲ βουλεῦσαι φόνου / παρποδίου νεφέλαν τρέψαι ποτὶ / δυσμενέων ἀνδρῶν στίχας / χερσὶ καὶ ψυχᾷ δυνατοί

  paûroi dè bouleûsai phónou / parpodíou nephélan trépsai potì / dusmenéōn andrôn stíkhas / khersì kaì psukhâi dunatoí

  cited by Liddell and Scott as an example of ψυχή meaning “the conscious self or personality as centre of emotions, desires, and affections”

  Dawson Turner’s prose translation (1852):

  But few are able to counsel how with hands and soul to turn the cloud of war that is upon them upon the ranks of the enemies.

  Abraham Moore’s metrical translation (1852):

  Few are the fiery souls that know, / When war’s fierce tempest heaviest falls, / Back on th’ assailant’s arms and wavering ranks / With hand and heart to turn / The wasteful wreck.

  Diane Svarlien’s translation (1990):

  But few are able to conspire with hand and heart to turn back against the ranks of the enemy the cloud of slaughter that presses close upon them.

• 50 CE – 100 CE, The Gospel of Luke 21:19
  (text according to Stephanus [1550], Westcott-Hort [1881] and Scrivener [1894])

  […] ἐν τῇ ὑπομονῇ ὑμῶν κτήσασθε τὰς ψυχὰς ὑμῶν

  […] in your patience possess ye your souls. (YLV, KJV)

  Stand firm, and you will win life. (NIV)

Derived terms

• ψῡχικός (psūkhikós)

Descendants

• → Coptic: ⲯⲩⲭⲏ (psukhē)
• Greek: ψυχή (psychí)
• → Latin: psychē
  • → English: psyche

References

• “ψυχή”, in Liddell & Scott (1889) An Intermediate Greek–English Lexicon, New York: Harper & Brothers
• “ψυχή”, in Autenrieth, Georg (1891) A Homeric Dictionary for Schools and Colleges, New York: Harper and Brothers
• Woodhouse, S. C. (1910) English–Greek Dictionary: A Vocabulary of the Attic Language‎^[1], London: Routledge & Kegan Paul Limited.
  • animation idem, page 30.
  • being idem, page 72.
  • bosom idem, page 90.
  • breast idem, page 96.
  • consciousness idem, page 162.
  • heart idem, page 392.
  • life idem, page 489.
  • mind idem, page 530.
  • nerve idem, page 556.
  • reins idem, page 688.
  • soul idem, page 796.
  • spirit idem, page 802.
  • vital idem, page 955.
  • vitality idem, page 955.
• ψυχή in Cunliffe, Richard J. (1924) A Lexicon of the Homeric Dialect: Expanded Edition, Norman: University of Oklahoma Press, published 1963
• ψυχή in Bailly, Anatole (1935) Le Grand Bailly: Dictionnaire grec-français, Paris: Hachette
• “ψυχή”, in Liddell & Scott (1940) A Greek–English Lexicon, Oxford: Clarendon Press
• G5590 in Strong, James (1979) Strong’s Exhaustive Concordance to the Bible
• Bauer, Walter et al. (2001) A Greek–English Lexicon of the New Testament and Other Early Christian Literature, Third edition, Chicago: University of Chicago Press
• 2006, Steven Paul, The Apocalypse Letter by Letter: A Literary Analysis of the Book of Revelation, page 281 (discussing Revelation 8:9): “The literal meaning of the noun ‘ψυχή’ [psykhë, or psyche] is ‘breath’; hence, like ‘πνεῦμα’ [pneuma], it can also mean ‘spirit, soul, mind.’"
• 2007, Leon Marvell, Transfigured light: philosophy, cybernetics and the hermetic imaginary →ISBN, page 128: “the psyche (the term derives from ψυχη, the breath, and ψυχειν, to breathe)”.

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Greek

Etymology

From Ancient Greek ψυχή.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): [psiˈçi]

• Audio:

  (file)

• Hyphenation: ψυ‧χή

Noun

ψυχή • (psychí) f (plural ψυχές)

1. (religion, folklore, also figurative) soul, spirit (essence of a person (or place or thing figuratively) usually thought to consist of one's thoughts and personality)

   Ο Θεός να αναπαύσει την ψυχή της. ― O Theós na anapáfsei tin psychí tis. ― God rest her soul.

   Το σώμα είναι η κιβωτός της ψυχής. ― To sóma eínai i kivotós tis psychís. ― The body is the vessel of the soul.

   Η ψυχή της Ελλάδας φαίνεται σε κάθε νότα της μουσικής. ― I psychí tis Elládas faínetai se káthe nóta tis mousikís. ― The soul of Greece can be heard in every note of music.

   Στον δρόμο δεν υπήρχε ψυχή τέτοια ώρα. ― Ston drómo den ypírche psychí tétoia óra. ― There wasn't a soul to be seen on the road at that hour.

2. (figuratively) courage, bravery, valour (quality of a confident character not to be afraid or intimidated easily)

   Δεν έχει κανείς εδώ ψυχή μέσα του. ― Den échei kaneís edó psychí mésa tou. ― Not one person here has any courage.

3. (entomology) butterfly
4. (music) sound post (of a string instrument, e.g. the violin)

Declension

Declension of ψυχή

	singular	plural
nominative	ψυχή •	ψυχές •
genitive	ψυχής •	ψυχών •
accusative	ψυχή •	ψυχές •
vocative	ψυχή •	ψυχές •

Derived terms

• άβυσσος η ψυχή του ανθρώπου (ávyssos i psychí tou anthrópou, “there's nowt so queer as folk”) (literally: "an abyss [is] the soul of man")

Related terms

• εν βρασμώ ψυχής (en vrasmó psychís)
• μια ψυχή που είναι να βγει (mia psychí pou eínai na vgei)
• πήγε η ψυχή μου στην Κούλουρη (píge i psychí mou stin Koúlouri)
• ψυχάκι (psycháki)
• ψυχάρα (psychára)
• ψυχή τε και σώματι (psychí te kai sómati)
• ψυχικά (psychiká)
• ψυχικό (psychikó)
• ψυχικός (psychikós)
• ψυχισμός (psychismós)
• ψυχούλα (psychoúla)
• ψυχούδι (psychoúdi)
• ψυχωμένος (psychoménos)
• ψύχωση (psýchosi)
• ψυχωτικός (psychotikós)
• ξεψυχώ (xepsychó)