Etymologically
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agmen

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Pronunciation

  • IPA (Classical): [ˈaɡ.mɛn][1]
  • IPA (Ecclesiastical): [ˈaɡ.men][1]

Forms

agmen n (genitive agminis); third declension[1]

Etymology

It is from agō “to drive, lead” with the suffix -men, from Proto-Indo-European *h₂éǵ-mn̥ (“train, course”), from the root Proto-Indo-European *h₂eǵ- (“to drive”).[2][1][3] Cognate with Sanskrit अज्मन् (ájman, “course, train”).[1] Isidore of Seville explained it as an army on the march, from ⟨agere⟩ “to go”.[4]

Earliest recorded meaning

Köbler's first source is Ennius, whom the OLD cites for a stream of water and for groups of animals.[3][2] Köbler dates Ennius 204–169 BC.[3]

Semantic evolution

It meant a stream, current, a downpour, the course of anything moving, as Virgil's serpents making straight for Laocoön and the gentle flow of the Tiber, and a mass or throng of things.[2][5] It meant a series, a train, a crowd or host of people, a retinue, and especially an army on the march, a column, as in Cicero and Caesar, with agmen cōgere “to bring up the rear”, and a march itself.[2] It also meant a battle line, an army, a line of ships, and a herd or team of animals, as in Ennius.[2] Döderlein groups agmen with caterva and cohors as an assembled multitude in order.[6]

In Ecclesiastical Latin it meant a throng, multitude, host.[7] In Medieval Latin it meant a line of march, procession, a company, a swarm of bees, and a joust.[8]

Timeline

  • 204–169 BC – Ennius uses it of a stream and of animals.[2][3]
  • 81–43 BC – Cicero uses it of an army on the march.[2][3]
  • c. 50 BC – Caesar uses it of the parts of a column.[2][3]
  • 70–19 BC – Virgil uses it of a host and of a course.[2][5][3]

Meanings

Noun

  1. A stream; a course, movement.[2]
  2. A mass, throng; a series, train.[2]
  3. A crowd, host; a retinue.[2]
  4. An army on the march, a column.[2]
  5. A march.[2]
  6. A battle line; an army.[2]
  7. A herd, team.[2]

Word family

  • agminālis
  • agminātim

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 d e f g Köbler, Gerhard (2010), Lateinisches Abkunfts- und Wirkungswörterbuch für Altertum und Mittelalter, online ed., koeblergerhard.de
  4. ^ Isidore of Seville, Etymologiarum sive Originum libri XX, ed. W. M. Lindsay (Oxford, 1911).
  5. ^ a b Gaffiot, Félix (2016), Dictionnaire latin-français, new ed. by Gérard Gréco et al. (Gaffiot 2016), online ed.
  6. ^ Döderlein, Ludwig (1874), Döderlein’s Hand-book of Latin Synonymes, tr. H. H. Arnold, Andover: W. F. Draper
  7. ^ Stelten, Leo F. (1995), Dictionary of Ecclesiastical Latin, Peabody, Mass.: Hendrickson
  8. ^ 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