sagitta Latin · revision 30650

+ {{infobox|confidence=unknown|attested=c. 235–200 BC, Naevius}}

+

+ ==Pronunciation==

+ * Classical: [saˈɡɪt.ta]^(Wiktionary)

+ * Ecclesiastical: [saˈd͡ʒit.ta]^(Wiktionary)

+

+ ==Forms==

+ '''sagitta''' ''f'' (genitive sagittae); first declension^(Wiktionary)

+

+ ==Etymology==

+ The origin is unknown.^(de Vaan 2008)^(OLD 2012)^(Köbler 2010) Wiktionary suggests a pre-Latin Mediterranean source, and mentions a minority view, already in Lewis & Short, that links it with [[m|la|sāgiō|t=to perceive keenly]].^(Wiktionary)^(Lewis & Short 1879)

+

+ ==Earliest recorded meaning==

+ De Vaan dates it from Naevius,^(de Vaan 2008) who calls Apollo ''pollēns sagittīs inclutus arquitenēns'', “mighty in arrows, famous archer”.^(OLD 2012) Plautus has ''sagittā Cupīdō cor meum trānsfīxit'', “Cupid has pierced my heart with an arrow”.^(OLD 2012)

+

+ ==Semantic evolution==

+ ''Sagitta'' is an arrow, in prose and poetry.^(OLD 2012)^(Lewis & Short 1879) 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).^(OLD 2012)

+

+ In Late Latin medicine it was a lancet.^(Wiktionary) In medieval Latin it also meant a thunderbolt, a calamity or torment, and a fast boat.^(Niermeyer 1976) English [[m|en|Sagitta]] (1704) names the constellation.^(Etymonline)

+

+ ==Timeline==

+ * c. 235–200 BC – Naevius: ''pollēns sagittīs''.^(OLD 2012)^(de Vaan 2008)^(Köbler 2010)

+ * c. 250–184 BC – Plautus: ''sagittā Cupīdō cor meum trānsfīxit''.^(OLD 2012)^(Köbler 2010)

+ * 81–43 BC – Cicero names the constellation.^(OLD 2012)^(Köbler 2010)

+ * 1st century AD – Columella of the end of a vine shoot.^(OLD 2012)^(Köbler 2010)

+ * 1704 – English [[m|en|Sagitta]].^(Etymonline)

+

+ ==Meanings==

+ ===Noun===

+ # An [[m|en|arrow]], shaft, bolt.^(OLD 2012)^(Lewis & Short 1879)^(Wiktionary)^(Stelten 1995)

+ # ''(astronomy)'' The constellation of the Arrow.^(OLD 2012)^(Wiktionary)

+ # The tapering end of a vine shoot.^(OLD 2012)^(Wiktionary)

+ # A water plant, perhaps the [[m|en|arrowhead]].^(OLD 2012)^(Wiktionary)

+ # ''(Late Latin, medicine)'' A [[m|en|lancet]].^(Wiktionary)

+ # ''(Medieval Latin)'' A thunderbolt; a calamity; a fast boat.^(Niermeyer 1976)

+

+ ==Word family==

+ * [[sagittārius]]

+ * [[sagittifer]]

+ * [[sagittiger]]

+ * [[Sagittipotens]]

+ * [[sagittō]]

+ * [[sagittula]]

+ * [[sagittālis]]

+

+ ==Related words==

+ * [[sāgiō]]

+ * [[arcus]]

+ * [[en|Sagitta]]

+

+ ==References==

+ {{reflist}}