soul, spirit
→
butterfly
5 realizations
Related shifts
| ID | Meaning 1 | Direction | Meaning 2 |
| ACCEPTED Realization 1 | ||
|---|---|---|
| type | Polysemy | |
| language | Ancient Greek | |
| lexeme | ψυχή | |
| meaning 1 | soul | 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. 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. (Homer, Iliad 1.1–5, translation by Robert Fagles) |
| direction | — | |
| meaning 2 | moth | 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. 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, which some call cabbage ( Aristotle, History of Animals 5.19). |
| reference | François 2008: 195 | |
| comment | LSJ 2026-2027. 'animating principle of a human or animal body', 'spirit or soul thought of as distinct from the body and leaving it at death', 'a disembodied spirit, a shade or ghost', 'spirit (animated attitude), conscious self, personality as centre of emotions, desires and affections'. | |
| ACCEPTED Realization 2 | ||
|---|---|---|
| type | Derivation | |
| language | Latin | |
| lexeme 1 | anima | |
| lexeme 2 | animulus, animula | |
| meaning 1 | soul | |
| direction | → | |
| meaning 2 | night butterfly | |
| reference | ||
| comment | Glare 132, Журавлев 2005, 560 | |
| ACCEPTED Realization 3 | ||
|---|---|---|
| type | Derivation | |
| language | Russian | |
| lexeme 1 | duša | |
| lexeme 2 | dušička | |
| meaning 1 | soul | |
| meaning 2 | moth | |
| reference | ||
| comment | The idioms of Yaroslavlj (Черных, 1, 63) | |
| ACCEPTED Realization 4 | ||
|---|---|---|
| type | Polysemy | |
| language | Tofa | |
| lexeme | үзүдэк | |
| meaning 1 | soul of shaman | |
| direction | — | |
| meaning 2 | moth | бодуӊнуӊ ыъртчыларыӊ үзүдəə үғдэшсiн may the souls of your great shamans help |
| reference | Rassadin 2016: 449 | |
| comment | ||
| ACCEPTED Realization 5 | ||
|---|---|---|
| type | Derivation | |
| language | Wakhi | |
| lexeme 1 | arwó | |
| lexeme 2 | arwo(h)əˊk | |
| meaning 1 | late ancestor's soul | |
| direction | → | |
| meaning 2 | moth, night butterfly | |
| reference | ||
| comment | Стеблин-Каменский 1999, 86 | |
It was believed that the soul of the deceased continues to live in the guise of a butterfly. Also Russian бабочка 'butterfly' etymologically 'soul of grandmother (бабка), female ancestor' (Фасмер 1, 100, Черных 1, 63, ЭССЯ 1, 107). Žuravlev 2005, 560