Etymologically
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fuga

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Pronunciation

  • Classical: [ˈfʊ.ɡa][1]
  • Ecclesiastical: [ˈfuː.ɡa][1]

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

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