agger Latin · revision 30673

+ {{infobox|confidence=probable|formation=derivation|attested=c. 180–102 BC, Lucilius|origins=ine-pro *h₂ǵ-es-}}

+

+ ==Pronunciation==

+ * Classical: [ˈaɡ.ɡɛr]^(Wiktionary)

+ * Ecclesiastical: [ˈad.d͡ʒer]^(Wiktionary)

+

+ ==Forms==

+ '''agger''' ''m'' (genitive aggeris); third declension^(Wiktionary)

+

+ ==Etymology==

+ It is connected with [[m|la|aggerō|t=to carry to, pile up]], from [[m|la|ad-|t=to]] and [[m|la|gerō|t=to carry]].^(OLD 2012)^(Lewis & Short 1879)^(Wiktionary) De Vaan notes that the stem ⟨*-ges-⟩ is younger than Proto-Indo-European, so the noun is not an inherited root noun; he derives the simple verb from [[itc-pro|*ges-e/o-]] and [[ine-pro|*h₂ǵ-es-|t=to carry]], an extension of the root of [[agō]].^(de Vaan 2008)

+

+ ==Earliest recorded meaning==

+ Lucilius, of a siege: ''aggere in iaciendō'', “in throwing up a ramp”, when the sheds have been moved up.^(OLD 2012)^(de Vaan 2008)^(Köbler 2010)

+

+ ==Semantic evolution==

+ An ''agger'' is first the material piled up for an earthwork, rubble or earth (Caesar), then the work itself: a ramp built by besiegers, a defensive rampart, and in particular the rampart of Rome ascribed to Servius Tullius, on which Horace walks in the sun.^(OLD 2012)^(Lewis & Short 1879) It is also a mole or pier, a dam or dyke, and the raised bank of a river (Virgil).^(OLD 2012) Of land it is a ridge or hill, and the raised bed of a road (Virgil's snake caught on the ''agger viae''); of piles, a funeral mound or pyre, a heap of snow, or a towering wave.^(OLD 2012)

+

+ Döderlein distinguishes the ''agger'', a single line like a dam, from the [[vallum]], a line that encloses a space.^(Döderlein 1874) Church Latin glosses it “mound, heap, wall”.^(Stelten 1995)

+

+ ==Timeline==

+ * c. 180–102 BC – Lucilius of a siege ramp.^(OLD 2012)^(Köbler 2010)

+ * c. 50 BC – Caesar of rubble, ramparts and a mole.^(OLD 2012)^(Köbler 2010)

+ * 65–8 BC – Horace of the Servian rampart.^(OLD 2012)^(Köbler 2010)

+ * 70–19 BC – Virgil of dykes, river banks and a raised road.^(OLD 2012)^(Köbler 2010)

+

+ ==Meanings==

+ ===Noun===

+ # Material for an earthwork; [[m|en|rubble]], earth.^(OLD 2012)^(Wiktionary)

+ # A siege ramp; a [[m|en|rampart]], earthwork; the Servian rampart of Rome.^(OLD 2012)^(Wiktionary)

+ # A mole, pier; a [[m|en|dam]], [[m|en|dyke]]; a river bank.^(OLD 2012)^(Wiktionary)

+ # A ridge, hill; a raised road, [[m|en|causeway]].^(OLD 2012)^(Wiktionary)

+ # A mound, pile, heap; a funeral pyre; a towering wave.^(OLD 2012)^(Stelten 1995)

+

+ ==Word family==

+ * [[aggerō]]

+

+ ==Related words==

+ * [[gerō]]

+ * [[congeriēs]]

+

+ ==References==

+ {{reflist}}