Etymologically
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sagio

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Pronunciation

  • Classical: [ˈsaː.ɡi.oː][1]
  • Ecclesiastical: [ˈsaː.d͡ʒi.o][1]

Forms

sāgiō (present infinitive sāgīre); fourth conjugation, no passive, no perfect or supine stems[1]

Etymology

It is perhaps inherited from Proto-Italic *sāgiō (“to seek, perceive”),[1][2] from Proto-Indo-European *seh₂g- (“to track, seek out”).[1][2] The simple verb is recorded later than its compound praesāgiō (“to foresee”), so de Vaan thinks it may well be a back-formation from the compound;[2] the OLD also allows this, or a formation from the adjective sāgus (“prophetic”).[3]

Cognate with Old Irish saigid (“to try to reach”), Ancient Greek ἡγέομαι (hēgéomai, “to direct, lead”), Hittite šāgāi- (“omen”) and English seek.[2]

Earliest recorded meaning

The only classical example is in Cicero's On Divination (1.65): sagire enim sentire acute est; ex quo sagae anus … et sagaces dicti canes “for sagire is to perceive keenly; hence old wise women are called sagae, and dogs sagaces”.[3][4][5]

Semantic evolution

Cicero goes on to explain praesāgiō: one who perceives a thing before it happens is said to praesagire.[4] Lewis & Short take the word both of keen perception by the senses and, figuratively, by the mind.[4]

Meanings

Verb

  1. To perceive quickly or keenly with the senses, to have a keen scent.[3][5][6][7]
  2. To perceive acutely with the mind.[4][1]

Usage notes

A different medieval sagiō (also sagō, saiō, sayō), a noun of Germanic origin, meant a bailiff or armed retainer;[8][9] Köbler first records it in the Code of Euric (c. 475).[9]

References

  1. ^ a b c d e f Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
  2. ^ a b c d de Vaan, Michiel (2008), Etymological Dictionary of Latin and the other Italic Languages, Leiden Indo-European Etymological Dictionary Series 7, Leiden; Boston: Brill
  3. ^ a b c Glare, P. G. W., ed. (2012), Oxford Latin Dictionary, 2nd ed., Oxford: Oxford University Press
  4. ^ a b c d Lewis, Charlton T.; Short, Charles (1879), A Latin Dictionary, Oxford: Clarendon Press
  5. ^ a b Georges, Karl Ernst (1913–1918), Ausführliches lateinisch-deutsches Handwörterbuch, 8th ed., ed. Heinrich Georges, Hannover; Leipzig: Hahn
  6. ^ Gaffiot, Félix (2016), Dictionnaire latin-français, new ed. by Gérard Gréco et al. (Gaffiot 2016), online ed.
  7. ^ Conte, Gian Biagio; Pianezzola, Emilio; Ranucci, Giuliano (2010), il Latino: Vocabolario della lingua latina, 3rd ed., Florence: Le Monnier
  8. ^ Niermeyer, J. F. (1976), Mediae Latinitatis Lexicon Minus, Leiden: Brill
  9. ^ a b Köbler, Gerhard (2010), Lateinisches Abkunfts- und Wirkungswörterbuch für Altertum und Mittelalter, online ed., koeblergerhard.de