Everyday LifeGreek → English
Sophronius
/səˈfroʊniəs/noun
A male given name of Greek origin, borne by several early bishops and saints.
The Greek roots
σῶς
sôs
safe, sound
φρήν
phrḗn
mind, wits
Literally: “sound of mind”
The story of the word
σώφρων describes a person whose mind sits level and unswollen, and the noun sophrosyne was a virtue the Greeks ranked above cleverness. Sophronius of Jerusalem was patriarch when the city surrendered to the caliph Umar in 638, and his sermons are one of the few contemporary Christian accounts of that year. The φρήν inside the name reappears in schizophrenia and frenzy.
- How it travelled
- Ancient Greek → Latin → English
Same family
freneticschizophreniaphrenology
In a sentence
Sophronius wrote the account of the surrender himself.
The monastery keeps his feast in March.