praesagio

Forms

praesāgiō (present infinitive praesāgīre, perfect active praesāgīvī or praesāgiī); fourth conjugation, no supine stem^[1]

Etymology

It is from Latin prae- (“before”) + sāgiō (“to perceive”),^[1] though the OLD derives it from the adjective praesāgus (“foreboding”).^[2] De Vaan points out that the compound is attested earlier than the simple verb, which may be a back-formation from it; since it has no obvious base within Latin, it may continue a Proto-Italic verb, Proto-Italic *sāg-ije/o- (“to seek, perceive”), and he tentatively reconstructs Proto-Indo-European *seh₂ǵ-i- (“tracking”).^[3] Cognate with Old Irish saigid (“to try to reach”), Ancient Greek ἡγέομαι (hēgéomai, “to direct, lead”), Hittite šāgāi- (“omen”) and English seek.^[3]

Earliest recorded meaning

De Vaan dates it from Plautus,^[3] who also has it as a deponent, animus plūs praesāgītur malī, “my mind forebodes more evil”,^[2][4] and praesāgībat mihi animus frustrā mē īre, “my mind told me I was going in vain”.^[4]

Semantic evolution

It means to feel something beforehand, to have a presentiment, often with animus as subject, as in Terence's nescioquid mī animus praesāgit malī.^[2][4] Cicero explains that sāgīre is to perceive keenly, so that one who perceives a thing before it happens is said to praesāgīre.^[4] It then means to give warning of, to portend: in Varro, quoted by Pliny, the moon forebodes a great storm, and in Pliny crowing cocks foretold a victory.^[2][4] Döderlein contrasts it with dīvīnāre, foreseeing by divine inspiration: praesāgīre is foreseeing in a natural way, through a mind that borders on the supernatural.^[5] The perfect is praesāgīvī or praesāgiī, and Celsus has the syncopated praesāgisse.^[2][6][1]

Timeline

• c. 250–184 BC – Plautus, also as a deponent.^[2][4][7]
• 190–159 BC – Terence, of the mind foreboding evil.^[2][7]
• 81–43 BC – Cicero explains it from sāgīre.^[4][7]
• 23/24–79 AD – Pliny the Elder, of signs that foretell events.^[4][7]

Meanings

Verb

1. To have a foreboding or presentiment of, to feel beforehand.^[2][4][1]
2. To give warning of, forebode, portend, presage.^[2][4][8]

Word family

• praesāgītiō
• praesāgium

Related words

• sāgiō
• sāgus
• sagāx
• praesāgus

References

1. ^ a b c d Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
2. ^ a b c d e f g h i Glare, P. G. W., ed. (2012), Oxford Latin Dictionary, 2nd ed., Oxford: Oxford University Press
3. ^ a b c 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 g h i j Lewis, Charlton T.; Short, Charles (1879), A Latin Dictionary, Oxford: Clarendon Press
5. ^ Döderlein, Ludwig (1874), Döderlein’s Hand-book of Latin Synonymes, tr. H. H. Arnold, Andover: W. F. Draper
6. ^ Thesaurus linguae Latinae (1900–), Leipzig: Teubner; Berlin: De Gruyter; open-access ed., Munich: Bayerische Akademie der Wissenschaften
7. ^ a b c d Köbler, Gerhard (2010), Lateinisches Abkunfts- und Wirkungswörterbuch für Altertum und Mittelalter, online ed., koeblergerhard.de
8. ^ Stelten, Leo F. (1995), Dictionary of Ecclesiastical Latin, Peabody, Mass.: Hendrickson