Etymologically
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agna

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Pronunciation

  • Classical: [ˈaŋ.na][1]
  • Ecclesiastical: [ˈaɲ.ɲa][1]

Forms

agna f (genitive agnae); first declension[1] Jerome has the ablative plural agnābus.[2]

Etymology

It is from Latin agnus (“lamb”) + -a, the feminine of the word for a lamb.[3][2][1] De Vaan traces agnus to Proto-Italic *agʷno- (“lamb”) and Proto-Indo-European *h₂egʷ-no- (“lamb”).[4] Cognate with Old Irish úan (“lamb”), Welsh oen (“lamb”) and Ancient Greek ἀμνός (amnós, “lamb”).[4]

Earliest recorded meaning

Köbler dates it from Cato.[5] Lewis & Short cite it first from Varro's work on agriculture.[2]

Semantic evolution

It is a ewe lamb, as opposed to a male lamb.[3][2] Horace speaks of a humble ewe lamb and Ovid of a trembling one.[2] The Vulgate has it in Genesis.[2] Church Latin glosses it a ewe lamb.[6]

Timeline

  • 234–149 BC – Cato uses it.[5]
  • 116–27 BC – Varro in his work on agriculture.[2][5]
  • 65–8 BC – Horace of a humble ewe lamb.[2][5]
  • 390–406 AD – The Vulgate in Genesis.[2][5]

Meanings

Noun

  1. A ewe lamb.[3][2][1]

Usage notes

A rare homograph agna, “ear of grain”, is known only from Paul the Deacon's epitome of Festus, which speaks of awned and awnless ears.[4][3][2] The OLD compares Ancient Greek ἄχνη (ákhnē), Gothic 𐌰𐌷𐌰𐌽𐌰 (ahana, “chaff”) and awn;[3] de Vaan notes that if it stands for an older *akna, it could go back with them to a derivative of the root Proto-Indo-European *h₂eḱ- (“sharp”), though the Greek is not a perfect formal match.[4]

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 Lewis, Charlton T.; Short, Charles (1879), A Latin Dictionary, Oxford: Clarendon Press
  3. ^ a b c d e Glare, P. G. W., ed. (2012), Oxford Latin Dictionary, 2nd ed., Oxford: Oxford University Press
  4. ^ a b c d 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 c d e Köbler, Gerhard (2010), Lateinisches Abkunfts- und Wirkungswörterbuch für Altertum und Mittelalter, online ed., koeblergerhard.de
  6. ^ Stelten, Leo F. (1995), Dictionary of Ecclesiastical Latin, Peabody, Mass.: Hendrickson