Etymologically
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aggressio

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Pronunciation

  • Classical: [aɡˈɡrɛs.si.oː][1]
  • Ecclesiastical: [aɡˈɡrɛs.si.o][1]

Forms

aggressiō f (genitive aggressiōnis); third declension[1]

Etymology

It is from Latin aggredior (“to approach, attack”) + -tiō.[2][3][1]

Earliest recorded meaning

Its first author is Cicero, who uses it in the Orator for the opening of a speech, the first assault on the hearers' minds.[2][4][5]

Semantic evolution

Lewis & Short find it very rare in the Classical period, where it belongs to the language of rhetoric.[4] Quintilian reports that Valgius used it to translate Ancient Greek ἐπιχείρημα (epikheírēma), a kind of rhetorical argument,[2][4] and Gellius uses it with ad for undertaking many things, in rendering Ancient Greek πολυπραγμοσύνη (polupragmosúnē).[2]

Apuleius has it in the plural for the attacks of wild beasts,[2][6] and Christian writers such as Augustine for violent assaults.[6] Medieval Latin used it for an attack, a hostile raid and also the undertaking of a task.[7][8] English aggression came from it through French in the 1610s.[9]

Timeline

  • 81–43 BC – Cicero uses it of the opening of a speech.[2][5]
  • c. 35–95/96 AD – Quintilian reports it as a translation of a Greek rhetorical term.[2][5]
  • c. 125–175 AD – Apuleius uses it of the attacks of wild beasts.[2][5]
  • c. 165 AD – Gellius uses it of undertaking many things.[2][5]
  • 1610s – English aggression is borrowed through French.[9]

Meanings

Noun

  1. An attack, assault.[2][6][7]
  2. (rhetoric) The opening of a speech.[2][4]
  3. (rhetoric) An epicheireme, a kind of argument.[2][4]
  4. The undertaking (of a task).[2][8]

References

  1. ^ a b c d Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
  2. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m Glare, P. G. W., ed. (2012), Oxford Latin Dictionary, 2nd ed., Oxford: Oxford University Press
  3. ^ Thesaurus linguae Latinae (1900–), Leipzig: Teubner; Berlin: De Gruyter; open-access ed., Munich: Bayerische Akademie der Wissenschaften
  4. ^ a b c d e Lewis, Charlton T.; Short, Charles (1879), A Latin Dictionary, Oxford: Clarendon Press
  5. ^ a b c d e Köbler, Gerhard (2010), Lateinisches Abkunfts- und Wirkungswörterbuch für Altertum und Mittelalter, online ed., koeblergerhard.de
  6. ^ a b c Georges, Karl Ernst (1913–1918), Ausführliches lateinisch-deutsches Handwörterbuch, 8th ed., ed. Heinrich Georges, Hannover; Leipzig: Hahn
  7. ^ a b Mittellateinisches Wörterbuch bis zum ausgehenden 13. Jahrhundert (1967–), Munich: C. H. Beck; Bayerische Akademie der Wissenschaften
  8. ^ a b 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
  9. ^ a b Harper, Douglas. Online Etymology Dictionary, https://www.etymonline.com