fuga

Forms

fuga f (genitive fugae); first declension^[1] Lucretius has the archaic genitive fugāī.^[2]

Etymology

It is inherited from Proto-Italic *fugā (“flight”), inherited from Proto-Indo-European *bʰugéh₂ (“flight”), from the root of fugiō “to flee”, *bʰewg- (“to flee”).^[1][3][4] Cognate with Ancient Greek φυγή (phugḗ, “flight, exile”).^[5][3][1]

Earliest recorded meaning

It is found from Ennius on:^[5][4] quō … nunc auxiliō exiliī aut fugā frēta sim? “on what help, in exile or flight, should I now rely?”^[5]

Semantic evolution

Fuga is running away, flight, and in battle a rout (in fugam conicere “to put to flight”).^[5][2] It is also desertion of one's post, exile and banishment, rapid movement or speed, the shunning of something (labōris fuga “avoidance of work”), and a means of escape.^[5][1][6]

In Medieval Latin it meant hunting, the right to hunt, and a hunting ground.^[7] Through Italian fuga “flight” it gave English fugue (1590s), the musical form.^[8]

Timeline

• 204–169 BC – First found in Ennius.^[5][4]
• c. 250–184 BC – Plautus uses it of flight from battle and of exile.^[5][4]
• 81–43 BC – Cicero speaks of labōris fuga.^[5][4]
• 70–19 BC – Virgil uses it of speed: volucremque fugā praevertitur Hebrum, “she outstrips the swift Hebrus in her running”.^[5][4]
• 1590s – English fugue, through Italian.^[8]

Meanings

Noun

1. flight, running away, escape.^[5][2][1][6]
2. (military) Flight, rout.^[5]
3. Desertion (of one's post).^[5]
4. exile, banishment.^[5][1]
5. Speed, swift movement.^[5]
6. Avoidance, shunning.^[5][1][6]
7. A means of escape;^[5] a refuge.^[6]
8. (Medieval Latin) Hunting; the right to hunt; a hunting ground.^[7]

Word family

• fugō
• fugium
• refugium

Related words

• fugiō
• English fugue

References

1. ^ a b c d e f g h i Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
2. ^ a b c Lewis, Charlton T.; Short, Charles (1879), A Latin Dictionary, Oxford: Clarendon Press
3. ^ 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
4. ^ a b c d e f Köbler, Gerhard (2010), Lateinisches Abkunfts- und Wirkungswörterbuch für Altertum und Mittelalter, online ed., koeblergerhard.de
5. ^ 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
6. ^ a b c d Stelten, Leo F. (1995), Dictionary of Ecclesiastical Latin, Peabody, Mass.: Hendrickson
7. ^ a b Niermeyer, J. F. (1976), Mediae Latinitatis Lexicon Minus, Leiden: Brill
8. ^ a b Harper, Douglas. Online Etymology Dictionary, https://www.etymonline.com