sagus

Forms

sāgus (feminine sāga, neuter sāgum); first/second-declension adjective^[1]

Etymology

It is probably inherited from Proto-Indo-European *séh₂gos, from the root *seh₂g- (“to seek, track”), which also underlies a verb meaning “to perceive keenly”.^[1][2] De Vaan groups it with sāgiō, sāga “wise woman”, sagāx “keen-scented” and praesāgiō “to foresee”, which go back to Proto-Italic *sāg-ije/o- (“to seek, perceive”) and *sag-āk- (“perceptive”); he notes that the compound is attested earlier than the simple forms, which may be back-formations from it, and that the adjective appears only after the Republic.^[3] He tentatively sets up a Proto-Indo-European noun *seh₂ǵ-i- (“tracking”), with a question mark.^[3]

Cognate with Old Irish saigid (“to try to reach”), Hittite šāgāi- (“omen”), Ancient Greek ἡγέομαι (hēgéomai, “to direct, lead”) and Gothic 𐍃𐍉𐌺𐌾𐌰𐌽 (sokjan, “to search”).^[3] The OLD compares Old Irish saigim (“seek”).^[4]

Earliest recorded meaning

De Vaan finds it from Statius on.^[3] In the Thebaid Statius speaks of the sky that will give no sure sign by sagis clangoribus, the prophetic cries of birds, and in the Achilleid of prophetic birds.^[4][5][6]

Semantic evolution

As an adjective it is post-Augustan and rare, while the feminine noun sāga “wise woman, fortune-teller” is common and Classical.^[5][3] Besides “prophetic”, Apuleius uses it of women practising witchcraft, who gnaw the faces of the dead.^[4][6] An inscription has sagae manus, magic hands.^[5][7]

Timeline

• c. 45–96 AD – Statius uses it of prophetic birds and their cries.^[4][5][2]
• c. 125–175 AD – Apuleius has sagae mulieres, women who practise witchcraft.^[4][6][2]

Meanings

Adjective

1. Prophetic, prescient, divining.^[4][5][1]
2. Practising witchcraft, magical.^[4][6][7]

Word family

• praesāgus
• sāga
• sāgiō

Usage notes

A different word, sagus “military cloak” (genitive sagī), is an archaic and occasional form of sagum, with a short ⟨a⟩.^[4][5][1][8]

References

1. ^ a b c d e f Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
2. ^ a b c Köbler, Gerhard (2010), Lateinisches Abkunfts- und Wirkungswörterbuch für Altertum und Mittelalter, online ed., koeblergerhard.de
3. ^ a b c d e 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 Glare, P. G. W., ed. (2012), Oxford Latin Dictionary, 2nd ed., Oxford: Oxford University Press
5. ^ a b c d e f Lewis, Charlton T.; Short, Charles (1879), A Latin Dictionary, Oxford: Clarendon Press
6. ^ a b c d Conte, Gian Biagio; Pianezzola, Emilio; Ranucci, Giuliano (2010), il Latino: Vocabolario della lingua latina, 3rd ed., Florence: Le Monnier
7. ^ a b Georges, Karl Ernst (1913–1918), Ausführliches lateinisch-deutsches Handwörterbuch, 8th ed., ed. Heinrich Georges, Hannover; Leipzig: Hahn
8. ^ Bianchi, Rossella; Lelli, Olga (2014), VOLI: Vocabolario di latino, Florence: Le Monnier