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circumago

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Etymology and origin of the Latin word circumago

Confidence
Established
Formation
Derivation
First attested
234–149 BC, Cato
Ultimate origin
Proto-Indo-European (*h₂eǵ-e/o-)
Etymology tree
inherited borrowed derived
Latin ago
French agir
Latin actrix
Latin ambigo
Latin actio
French action
Latin abigo
Latin dego
Latin perago
Latin adigo
Latin cogo
Latin activus
English active
English activist
Latin actus
English act
Latin actuosus
Latin actor
English actor
English actress
French acteur
Latin subigo
Latin circumago
Latin agito
French agiter
Latin exagito
Latin redigo
Latin agilis

Pronunciation

  • Classical: [kɪrˈkʊ.ma.ɡoː][1]
  • Ecclesiastical: [t͡ʃirˈkuː.ma.ɡo][1]

Forms

circumagō (present infinitive circumagere, perfect active circumēgī, supine circumāctum); third conjugation[1] It is also spelled circuagō.[2] Lucretius and Virgil split it by tmesis.[3]

Etymology

It is from Latin circum- (“around”) + agō (“to drive, lead”).[2][3][1] De Vaan traces agō to Proto-Italic *ag-e/o- and Proto-Indo-European *h₂eǵ-e/o- (“to drive, lead”).[4]

Earliest recorded meaning

The OLD's first example is Cato's prayer for the purification of a farm, where the sacrificial pig, sheep and bull are driven round the land.[2][5]

Semantic evolution

It means to drive or lead round, and to take by a roundabout way, as Horace's “there is no need for you to go round about”.[2] Varro uses it of a furrow drawn round a site.[2] It is also to make something move in a circle, as Vitruvius' rotation of the heavens, and in the passive of seasons coming round in a year, as Livy's solar year.[2] It means to turn round or revolve, and figuratively to throw into turmoil, as Petronius' man upset as if by a troubled dream; also to bend round, and to turn persons or things in another direction, as Livy's horsemen turning their horses with the reins.[2] Pliny the Elder notes a grape that turns with the sun.[2] Lewis & Short note that it is most frequent from the Augustan period and absent from Cicero and Quintilian.[5]

Timeline

  • 234–149 BC – Cato of driving sacrificial animals round a farm.[2][6]
  • 116–27 BC – Varro of a furrow drawn round a site.[2][6]
  • 65–8 BC – Horace of going a roundabout way.[2][6]
  • 59 BC–17 AD – Livy of the year coming round and of turning horses.[2][6]
  • 23/24–79 AD – Pliny the Elder of a grape that turns with the sun.[2][6]

Meanings

Verb

  1. To drive or lead round; to take by a roundabout route.[2][5][1]
  2. To make move in a circle; in the passive, of seasons, to come round.[2][5]
  3. To turn round, revolve; figuratively, to throw into a turmoil.[2][5][1]
  4. To bend round, make round.[2]
  5. To turn in another direction; in the passive, to turn round or back.[2][5]

Word family

  • circumactiō
  • circumactus

References

  1. ^ a b c d e f 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 q r Glare, P. G. W., ed. (2012), Oxford Latin Dictionary, 2nd ed., Oxford: Oxford University Press
  3. ^ a b Thesaurus linguae Latinae (1900–), Leipzig: Teubner; Berlin: De Gruyter; open-access ed., Munich: Bayerische Akademie der Wissenschaften
  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 c d e f Lewis, Charlton T.; Short, Charles (1879), A Latin Dictionary, Oxford: Clarendon Press
  6. ^ a b c d e Köbler, Gerhard (2010), Lateinisches Abkunfts- und Wirkungswörterbuch für Altertum und Mittelalter, online ed., koeblergerhard.de
Cite this entry

“Circumago.” Etymologically, 19 Oct. 2026, etymologically.com/la/circumago. Accessed 20 Oct. 2026.

Last edited on . ·