contages

Forms

contāgēs f (genitive contāgis); third declension^[1][2] Lucretius has the ablative contāgē.^[1] The grammarian Charisius notes that its genitive ends in -is.^[3]

Etymology

It is from Latin con- + tangō (“to touch”) + -ēs, formed with the stem ⟨tag-⟩ of the verb.^[1] The TLL compares contingō (“to touch”) and contāgiō.^[3] De Vaan traces tangō to Proto-Italic *tang-e- and Proto-Indo-European *th₂-n-g- (“to touch”); the long ⟨ā⟩ of this noun and of that one is disputed, and may continue a full grade *teh₂g- or copy other compounds such as compāgēs.^[4] Cognate with Ancient Greek τεταγών (tetagṓn, “having seized”).^[4]

Earliest recorded meaning

It is found first in Lucretius,^[5] meaning contact or touch.^[1][2]

Semantic evolution

Lewis and Short call it a Lucretian word; he has it in the third and fourth books, and in the plural in the sixth.^[2] Besides contact, the OLD gives it the sense of infection or contagion,^[1] which Conte finds in the sixth book.^[6] Arnobius, at the start of the 4th century, uses it again for contact.^[7]

Timeline

• 96–55 BC – Lucretius uses it of contact and contagion.^[1][5]
• 297–310 AD – Arnobius uses it of contact.^[7][5]

Meanings

Noun

1. Contact, touch.^[1][2]
2. Infection, contagion.^[1][6]

Related words

• contāgium
• contingō

References

1. ^ a b c d e f g h Glare, P. G. W., ed. (2012), Oxford Latin Dictionary, 2nd ed., Oxford: Oxford University Press
2. ^ a b c d Lewis, Charlton T.; Short, Charles (1879), A Latin Dictionary, Oxford: Clarendon Press
3. ^ a b Thesaurus linguae Latinae (1900–), Leipzig: Teubner; Berlin: De Gruyter; open-access ed., Munich: Bayerische Akademie der Wissenschaften
4. ^ a b 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 Köbler, Gerhard (2010), Lateinisches Abkunfts- und Wirkungswörterbuch für Altertum und Mittelalter, online ed., koeblergerhard.de
6. ^ a b Conte, Gian Biagio; Pianezzola, Emilio; Ranucci, Giuliano (2010), il Latino: Vocabolario della lingua latina, 3rd ed., Florence: Le Monnier
7. ^ a b Georges, Karl Ernst (1913–1918), Ausführliches lateinisch-deutsches Handwörterbuch, 8th ed., ed. Heinrich Georges, Hannover; Leipzig: Hahn