sagax Latin · revision 32972

+ {{infobox|confidence=probable|formation=derivation|attested=c. 250–184 BC, Plautus|origins=ine-pro *seh₂ǵ-}}

+

+ ==Pronunciation==

+ * Classical: [ˈsa.ɡaːks]^(Wiktionary)

+ * Ecclesiastical: [ˈsaː.ɡaks]^(Wiktionary)

+

+ ==Forms==

+ '''sagāx''' (genitive sagācis, superlative sagācissimus, adverb sagāciter); third-declension one-termination adjective^(Wiktionary)

+

+ ==Etymology==

+ It is [[af|la|sāgiō|-āx|t1=to perceive]].^(OLD 2012)^(Wiktionary)^(Lewis & Short 1879) De Vaan reconstructs [[itc-pro|*sag-āk-|t=perceptive]] beside a verb [[itc-pro|*sāg-ije/o-|t=to seek, perceive]], perhaps from [[ine-pro|*seh₂ǵ-i-|t=tracking]], and compares [[sga|saigid|t=to try to reach]], [[hit|šāgāi-|t=omen]], [[grc|ἡγέομαι|tr=hēgéomai|t=to direct, lead]] and English [[m|en|seek]].^(de Vaan 2008) Köbler and Pokorny give the root as ⟨*sāg-⟩ “to seek, track”.^(Köbler 2010)

+

+ ==Earliest recorded meaning==

+ De Vaan and Köbler date it from Plautus,^(de Vaan 2008)^(Köbler 2010) who says of someone that he has a keen nose.^(Lewis & Short 1879) The OLD's first quotation is Ennius' hunting dog that scents the wild beasts with its keen nose.^(OLD 2012)

+

+ ==Semantic evolution==

+ It is first keen-scented, chiefly of dogs, as in Cicero and Ovid;^(Lewis & Short 1879)^(OLD 2012) Ovid also has a goose keener than dogs.^(Lewis & Short 1879)^(OLD 2012) Of people and minds it is sharp, acute or perceptive: Afranius asks who has so shrewd a heart and so unique a wit, and Lucretius writes of what we seek with keen reasoning.^(OLD 2012) Church Latin glosses it keen-sensed and sagacious,^(Stelten 1995) and Wiktionary records a rare sense magical.^(Wiktionary)

+

+ ==Timeline==

+ * c. 250–184 BC – Plautus of a keen nose.^(Lewis & Short 1879)^(Köbler 2010)

+ * 204–169 BC – Ennius of a keen-scented hound.^(OLD 2012)^(Köbler 2010)

+ * second half of the 2nd century BC – Afranius of a shrewd mind.^(OLD 2012)^(Köbler 2010)

+ * 96–55 BC – Lucretius of keen reasoning.^(OLD 2012)^(Köbler 2010)

+

+ ==Meanings==

+ ===Adjective===

+ # [[m|en|keen-scented|alt=Keen-scented]]; keen in any of the senses.^(OLD 2012)^(Lewis & Short 1879)^(Wiktionary)

+ # Of people and minds, sharp, acute, perceptive, [[m|en|shrewd]], [[m|en|sagacious]].^(OLD 2012)^(Lewis & Short 1879)^(Wiktionary)^(Stelten 1995)

+ # ''(rare)'' [[m|en|magical|alt=Magical]].^(Wiktionary)

+

+ ==Word family==

+ * [[sagācitās]]

+ * [[sagāciter]]

+

+ ==Related words==

+ * [[sagio|alt=sāgiō]]

+ * [[saga|alt=sāga]]

+ * [[praesagio|alt=praesāgiō]]

+

+ ==References==

+ {{reflist}}