Jalons pour une histoire du terme symmista
Résumé
This article proposes a short lexicographical inquiry about symmist, a word of greek origin which is not really a hapax, but was nevertheless not very widespread in Medieval Latin. Based on the fact that at least three cases of this word with meaning of "co-initiated" are related to the life and work of the famous German abbess Hildegard of Bingen (1098-1179), this paper looks at the origin, first occurrences, and most common uses of the term. Origenes' work, in Rufinus's Latin translation, contributed widely to the introduction of symmysta, mostly used to qualify the figure of Saint John the Evangelist. The use of this word in the feminine form seems very peculiar, and the questions is raised as tp the possible sources of those whot used it with regard to Hildegard, knowing that the 12th century was characterized by a renewed interest for the Greek language. The paper then points up other occurrences of symmysta in the feminine form, in the same period, and in a neighborign environment.
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