sagum

Forms

sagum n (genitive sagī); second declension^[1] An older masculine sagus is found in Ennius, Afranius and Varro.^[2][3]

Etymology

It is probably borrowed from Gaulish: the OLD calls it Gallic, Lewis & Short note that Polybius gave Ancient Greek σάγος (ságos) as a Celtic word, and Walde and Hofmann considered a loan from Gaulish.^[2][3][4] De Vaan finds no etymology.^[4]

Earliest recorded meaning

De Vaan and Köbler date it from Ennius, who has the masculine sagus.^[4][5][2]

Semantic evolution

It is a coarse woollen cloak or blanket: Cato and Columella use it of servants' clothing, Tacitus of the Germans, and Vegetius of horse blankets.^[3] Most often it is the soldier's cloak: Cicero teases a friend that he may be cold in winter quarters without enough cloaks.^[3] So it became the sign of war as the toga was of peace: saga sūmere or ad saga īre is to prepare for war, and in sagīs esse to be at war, all common in Cicero's Philippics.^[2][3] In Medieval Latin it is a blanket and the cloth serge.^[6]

Timeline

• 204–169 BC – Ennius has the masculine sagus.^[2][5]
• 234–149 BC – Cato of servants' cloaks.^[3][5]
• 81–43 BC – Cicero of putting on the military cloak.^[2][5]
• 98–115 AD – Tacitus of the cloak of the Germans.^[3][5]

Meanings

Noun

1. A coarse woollen cloak or blanket.^[2][3][7]
2. The soldier's cloak, the sagum; saga sūmere, to prepare for war; in sagīs esse, to be at war.^[2][3][1]
3. (Medieval Latin) A blanket; serge.^[6]

Related words

• sagulum
• sagātus

References

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