# מורפיה



## aries44

The medieval word for corporation is 
מורפיה או מורפיא

any ideas on its origin. appears to be a form of latin morphus


----------



## Nunty

Hello, aries44. I'm not aware of any Latin word _morphus_ (Latin-Hebrew is one of my language pairs), but you have _morpha_ and _morphe_ in Greek, meaning shape or form. I hope this helps a bit. You might also like this link.


----------



## amikama

aries44 said:
			
		

> The medieval word for corporation is
> מורפיה או מורפיא


Sorry, but I've never seen this word before, nor did I find it in my dictionary (either spelling). Could you please tell us where you found this word and in what context?


----------



## aries44

It is used in the Shulchan Aruch to describe a partnership in which the liability is only against the parnership and not against the individual partners. It is not talmudic so you wont find it in Jastow or a talmudic dictionary and it is not modern Hebrew. 
(The Shulchan Aruch is a codification of Jewish law from the 16th century.)


----------



## Nunty

If it's in the שלחן ערוך I'm wondering if there might not be a medieval Spanish root, though I admit I don't know _why_ I wonder that. Can you give us the reference please? I'd like to look it up. Maybe the context will inspire me. (Don't look so surprised; we have a very complete library in the monastery.)


----------



## JLanguage

אולי המילה זו ארמית במקורה? מילים שיכולות להיות מאויתות אם "א" או "ה" בסוף לעתים קרובות באו לעברית מארמית כמו "פרהסיא" או "דוגמא".​


----------



## Nunty

Good morning, JLanguage. Since aries44 says it's not in Jastrow, it's probably not Aramaic. Jastrow is an Aramaic-English dictionary that is very comprehensive when it comes to the vocabulary of Talmud, midrash and halacha. I hope he posts the reference; I'm getting very curious.


----------



## amikama

JLanguage said:
			
		

> אולי המילה זו ארמית במקורה? מילים שיכולות להיות מאויתות אם "א" או "ה" בסוף לעתים קרובות באו לעברית מארמית כמו "פרהסיא" או "דוגמא".​


דוגמא and פרהסיה aren't Aramaic but Greek. And indeed, words ending in either א or ה are either Aramaic or Greek  

To me מורפיה sounds Greek rather than Aramaic, but it's only my impression.


----------



## Nunty

Aries44 seems to have abandoned the thread, but if anyone else does find the reference, please post it. I'm dying of curiosity and I don't have a searchable Shulhan Aruch. Thanks!


----------

