Etymologically
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sagitta

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Pronunciation

  • Classical: [saˈɡɪt.ta][1]
  • Ecclesiastical: [saˈd͡ʒit.ta][1]

Forms

sagitta f (genitive sagittae); first declension[1]

Etymology

The origin is unknown.[2][3][4] Wiktionary suggests a pre-Latin Mediterranean source, and mentions a minority view, already in Lewis & Short, that links it with sāgiō (“to perceive keenly”).[1][5]

Earliest recorded meaning

De Vaan dates it from Naevius,[2] who calls Apollo pollēns sagittīs inclutus arquitenēns, “mighty in arrows, famous archer”.[3] Plautus has sagittā Cupīdō cor meum trānsfīxit, “Cupid has pierced my heart with an arrow”.[3]

Semantic evolution

Sagitta is an arrow, in prose and poetry.[3][5] It is also the northern constellation of the Arrow (Cicero's Aratea), the tapering end of a vine shoot, as farmers called it (Columella), and a water plant, perhaps the arrowhead (Pliny the Elder).[3]

In Late Latin medicine it was a lancet.[1] In medieval Latin it also meant a thunderbolt, a calamity or torment, and a fast boat.[6] English Sagitta (1704) names the constellation.[7]

Timeline

  • c. 235–200 BC – Naevius: pollēns sagittīs.[3][2][4]
  • c. 250–184 BC – Plautus: sagittā Cupīdō cor meum trānsfīxit.[3][4]
  • 81–43 BC – Cicero names the constellation.[3][4]
  • 1st century AD – Columella of the end of a vine shoot.[3][4]
  • 1704 – English Sagitta.[7]

Meanings

Noun

  1. An arrow, shaft, bolt.[3][5][1][8]
  2. (astronomy) The constellation of the Arrow.[3][1]
  3. The tapering end of a vine shoot.[3][1]
  4. A water plant, perhaps the arrowhead.[3][1]
  5. (Late Latin, medicine) A lancet.[1]
  6. (Medieval Latin) A thunderbolt; a calamity; a fast boat.[6]

Word family

  • sagittārius
  • sagittifer
  • sagittiger
  • Sagittipotens
  • sagittō
  • sagittula
  • sagittālis
  • sāgiō
  • arcus
  • English Sagitta

References

  1. ^ a b c d e f g h i j Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
  2. ^ 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
  3. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m Glare, P. G. W., ed. (2012), Oxford Latin Dictionary, 2nd ed., Oxford: Oxford University Press
  4. ^ a b c d e Köbler, Gerhard (2010), Lateinisches Abkunfts- und Wirkungswörterbuch für Altertum und Mittelalter, online ed., koeblergerhard.de
  5. ^ a b c Lewis, Charlton T.; Short, Charles (1879), A Latin Dictionary, Oxford: Clarendon Press
  6. ^ a b Niermeyer, J. F. (1976), Mediae Latinitatis Lexicon Minus, Leiden: Brill
  7. ^ a b Harper, Douglas. Online Etymology Dictionary, https://www.etymonline.com
  8. ^ Stelten, Leo F. (1995), Dictionary of Ecclesiastical Latin, Peabody, Mass.: Hendrickson