sagitto

Forms

sagittō (present infinitive sagittāre, perfect active sagittāvī, supine sagittātum); first conjugation^[1]

Etymology

It is from Latin sagitta (“arrow”),^[2][3][1] with the verb ending -ō.^[1] De Vaan finds no etymology for the noun.^[4]

Earliest recorded meaning

Lewis & Short call it post-Augustan; the earliest author they cite is Curtius, in the 1st century AD,^[5][6] who uses it intransitively, to shoot arrows.^[7][8]

Semantic evolution

In Classical prose it meant to shoot arrows, as in Curtius and Justin.^[5][7] In Christian Latin it became transitive, to shoot at or pierce with arrows, as in the Vulgate Psalms and in Jerome,^[5][8] and figurative: Augustine writes to God “sagittaveras tu cor meum caritate tua”, “you had pierced my heart with your love”.^[8]

Timeline

• 1st century AD – Curtius uses it for shooting arrows.^[5][6]
• first half of the 3rd century AD – Solinus uses it.^[5][6]
• 390–406 AD – The Vulgate Psalms use it.^[5][6]
• 354–430 AD – Augustine uses it figuratively of a heart pierced by love.^[8][6]

Meanings

Verb

1. To shoot arrows.^[5][7][3]
2. (Late Latin) To shoot at or pierce with arrows;^[5][8] (figurative) to wound.^[5][8]

Usage notes

Earlier Latin preferred phrases such as sagittam iacere “to throw an arrow”.^[5] De Vaan records a Plautine sagittātus “barbed”.^[4]

References

1. ^ a b c d e Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
2. ^ Georges, Karl Ernst (1913–1918), Ausführliches lateinisch-deutsches Handwörterbuch, 8th ed., ed. Heinrich Georges, Hannover; Leipzig: Hahn
3. ^ a b Bianchi, Rossella; Lelli, Olga (2014), VOLI: Vocabolario di latino, Florence: Le Monnier
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 f g h i j Lewis, Charlton T.; Short, Charles (1879), A Latin Dictionary, Oxford: Clarendon Press
6. ^ a b c d e Köbler, Gerhard (2010), Lateinisches Abkunfts- und Wirkungswörterbuch für Altertum und Mittelalter, online ed., koeblergerhard.de
7. ^ a b c Gaffiot, Félix (2016), Dictionnaire latin-français, new ed. by Gérard Gréco et al. (Gaffiot 2016), online ed.
8. ^ a b c d e f Conte, Gian Biagio; Pianezzola, Emilio; Ranucci, Giuliano (2010), il Latino: Vocabolario della lingua latina, 3rd ed., Florence: Le Monnier