Etymologically
Log in

agitatio

This is the current revision of this entry, as edited by bogdan on 20 October 2026 at 13:23. This address is a permanent link to this version.
Changes in this edit History

Forms

agitātiō f (genitive agitātiōnis); third declension[1]

Etymology

It is from Latin agitō (“to set in motion, drive about”) + -tiō.[2][1] agitō is a frequentative of agō (“to drive”),[3][1] which de Vaan traces to Proto-Italic *ag-e/o- and Proto-Indo-European *h₂eǵ-e/o- (“to drive, lead”).[4]

Earliest recorded meaning

Köbler dates it from Cicero,[5] who in the speech for Murena asks why the sea has such varied motions and changes of its waves.[2][6]

Semantic evolution

It is violent movement: Livy uses it of the brandishing of weapons and of a litter's swaying,[2][6] Cicero of the waves and of the motion of the tongue;[2][6] Varro uses it of movement without violence.[2] In the Vulgate the earth will be shaken with shaking.[6] Figuratively, mostly in philosophical language, it is activity: Cicero says the mind can never be free of activity and motion, and speaks of the pursuit of studies and the management of great affairs;[6][2] he contrasts action with mere activity of the mind, thought.[2][6] Seneca speaks of the wise man's practice of the virtues,[6] and Columella of the working of land.[2] The English agitation first meant debate, a mental tossing to and fro.[3]

Timeline

  • 81–43 BC – Cicero of the motion of the sea.[2][5]
  • 116–27 BC – Varro of movement without violence.[2]
  • 59 BC–17 AD – Livy of the brandishing of weapons.[2]
  • 1st century AD – Columella of working the land.[2]
  • 1560s – agitation appears in English, from French.[3]

Meanings

Noun

  1. A violent moving, brandishing, waving, shaking.[2][6]
  2. Motion, movement; agitation, disturbance.[2][6][1]
  3. The pursuit, practice, exercise (of an activity); mentis agitātiō, mental activity, thought.[2][6][1]
  4. The working, cultivation (of land).[2]

References

  1. ^ a b c d e Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
  2. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m n o p Glare, P. G. W., ed. (2012), Oxford Latin Dictionary, 2nd ed., Oxford: Oxford University Press
  3. ^ a b c Harper, Douglas. Online Etymology Dictionary, https://www.etymonline.com
  4. ^ de Vaan, Michiel (2008), Etymological Dictionary of Latin and the other Italic Languages, Leiden Indo-European Etymological Dictionary Series 7, Leiden; Boston: Brill
  5. ^ a b Köbler, Gerhard (2010), Lateinisches Abkunfts- und Wirkungswörterbuch für Altertum und Mittelalter, online ed., koeblergerhard.de
  6. ^ a b c d e f g h i j Lewis, Charlton T.; Short, Charles (1879), A Latin Dictionary, Oxford: Clarendon Press