Etymologically
Log in

agentia

This is the current revision of this entry, as edited by bogdan on 23 October 2026 at 05:20. This address is a permanent link to this version.
Changes in this edit History

Pronunciation

  • Classical: [aˈɡeːn.ti.a][1]
  • Ecclesiastical: [aˈd͡ʒɛn.t͡si.a][1]

Forms

agēntia f (genitive agēntiae); first declension[1]

Etymology

It is from Latin agēns (“doing, acting”) + -ia, an abstract noun from the present participle of agō (“to drive, do”).[1][2]

Earliest recorded meaning

Its earliest example is in Anselm of Canterbury's dialogue on truth: considered from what it does, an action is more properly called agentia and percutientia; considered from what it undergoes, it is āctiō and percussiō:[3][4] agency, action seen from the side of the one who acts.[3]

Semantic evolution

It remained a word of scholastic philosophy.[3] Thomas Bradwardine writes that providence implies an act or a kind of agentia, and Wyclif calls agentia the accidental form by which an agent is named an agent, the source of its motion.[3] Wiktionary gives it the medieval sense “ability”.[1]

English agency, from the 1650s, is taken from it.[2]

Timeline

  • late 11th century – Anselm of Canterbury opposes agentia to āctiō.[3][4]
  • 1650s – English agency “active operation” is formed from it.[2]

Meanings

Noun

  1. (Medieval Latin, philosophy) agency, action considered on the side of the agent.[3]
  2. (Medieval Latin) Ability.[1]

Usage notes

Niermeyer records an agentia meaning “farm, rural establishment”,[5] which Köbler treats as a variant of aisantia.[4]

References

  1. ^ a b c d e f Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
  2. ^ a b c Harper, Douglas. Online Etymology Dictionary, https://www.etymonline.com
  3. ^ a b c d e f Latham, R. E., D. R. Howlett, R. K. Ashdowne, et al. (1975–2013), Dictionary of Medieval Latin from British Sources, London: British Academy / Oxford University Press
  4. ^ a b c Köbler, Gerhard (2010), Lateinisches Abkunfts- und Wirkungswörterbuch für Altertum und Mittelalter, online ed., koeblergerhard.de
  5. ^ Niermeyer, J. F. (1976), Mediae Latinitatis Lexicon Minus, Leiden: Brill