Etymologically
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montivagus

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Pronunciation

  • Classical: [mɔnˈtɪ.wa.ɡʊs][1]
  • Ecclesiastical: [monˈtiː.va.ɡus][1]

Forms

montivagus (feminine montivaga, neuter montivagum); first/second-declension adjective[1]

Etymology

It is from Latin mōns (“mountain”) + vagus (“wandering”).[2][1] The TLL compares a Greek compound of the same meaning, and reports Leumann's view that the second part is the verb vagor (“to wander”).[3] De Vaan derives the noun from Proto-Italic *monti- and Proto-Indo-European *mon-ti- (“protrusion, height”), and the adjective from *wago-, perhaps from *Huog-o-.[4]

Earliest recorded meaning

It is first found in Lucretius,[4][5] of wild beasts that roam the mountains.[6][7]

Semantic evolution

The TLL counts it as a poetic word, apart from a few passages.[3] Cicero, in the Tusculan Disputations, has it of running and ranging over mountains and through woods,[6][3] and Seneca's tragedies use it of a flock and of Pans.[3] Statius applies it to the guardian of a mountain flock and, as Lewis & Short note, to Diana;[6][3] later Nemesianus and Avienus have it.[3]

Timeline

  • 96–55 BC – Lucretius uses it of wild beasts.[6][5]
  • 81–43 BC – Cicero uses it of ranging over mountains.[6][5]
  • 4 BC–65 AD – Seneca uses it in his tragedies.[3][5]
  • c. 45–96 AD – Statius uses it of Diana.[6][5]

Meanings

Adjective

  1. Roaming the mountains, mountain-ranging.[2][6]

References

  1. ^ a b c d Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
  2. ^ a b Glare, P. G. W., ed. (2012), Oxford Latin Dictionary, 2nd ed., Oxford: Oxford University Press
  3. ^ a b c d e f g 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 d e Köbler, Gerhard (2010), Lateinisches Abkunfts- und Wirkungswörterbuch für Altertum und Mittelalter, online ed., koeblergerhard.de
  6. ^ a b c d e f g Lewis, Charlton T.; Short, Charles (1879), A Latin Dictionary, Oxford: Clarendon Press
  7. ^ Georges, Karl Ernst (1913–1918), Ausführliches lateinisch-deutsches Handwörterbuch, 8th ed., ed. Heinrich Georges, Hannover; Leipzig: Hahn