sagacitas Latin · revision 33440

+ {{infobox|confidence=established|formation=derivation|attested=81–43 BC, Cicero|origins=la sagāx}}

+

+ ==Forms==

+ '''sagācitās''' ''f'' (genitive sagācitātis); third declension^(Wiktionary)

+

+ ==Etymology==

+ It is [[af|la|sagāx|-tās|t1=keen-scented, perceptive]].^(OLD 2012)^(Wiktionary)^(Lewis & Short 1879) De Vaan traces [[m|la|sagāx]] to [[itc-pro|*sag-āk-|t=perceptive]], beside [[m|la|sāgiō|t=to perceive]], [[m|la|praesāgiō|t=to foresee]] and [[m|la|sāgus|t=prophetic]], and connects the group with words from [[ine-pro|*seh₂g-|t=to seek, track]].^(de Vaan 2008) Cognate with [[sga|saigid|t=to try to reach]], [[hit|šāgāi-|t=omen]], [[grc|ἡγέομαι|tr=hēgéomai|t=to direct, lead]] and [[en|seek]].^(de Vaan 2008)

+

+ ==Earliest recorded meaning==

+ Köbler records it first in Cicero,^(Köbler 2010) who uses it of the keen scent of dogs, ''sagācitāte canum ad ūtilitātem nostram abūtimur'', “we make use of the keen scent of dogs for our benefit”.^(OLD 2012)^(Conte 2010)

+

+ ==Semantic evolution==

+ Its first sense is a keen sense of smell, above all in dogs,^(OLD 2012)^(Lewis & Short 1879) as in Cicero and Pliny the Elder;^(Lewis & Short 1879)^(Gaffiot 2016) Seneca extends it to the keenness of the senses in general.^(OLD 2012)^(Lewis & Short 1879) Already in Cicero it also means mental acuteness or shrewdness:^(OLD 2012)^(Lewis & Short 1879) in the Verrines he speaks of a remarkable flair for discovering ornaments,^(OLD 2012) and Nepos says of a man that he was too shrewd to be deceived.^(Lewis & Short 1879) Lewis & Short give ''sollertia'' and ''acūmen'' as synonyms.^(Lewis & Short 1879) Medieval writers in Britain kept both senses and also used it for eagerness or zeal, as in Aldhelm.^(DMLBS) English took ''sagacity'' about 1500, through French.^(Etymonline)

+

+ ==Timeline==

+ * 81–43 BC – Cicero uses it of the scent of dogs and of shrewdness.^(OLD 2012)^(Köbler 2010)

+ * c. 100–24 BC – Nepos uses it of a man too shrewd to be deceived.^(Lewis & Short 1879)^(Köbler 2010)

+ * 4 BC–65 AD – Seneca applies it to the senses in general.^(Lewis & Short 1879)^(Köbler 2010)

+ * 23/24–79 AD – Pliny the Elder uses it of dogs and of Hipparchus' discovery about eclipses of the moon.^(Lewis & Short 1879)^(Köbler 2010)

+ * Medieval Latin – Aldhelm uses it of zeal for reading.^(DMLBS)

+ * c. 1500 – Borrowed into English as [[m|en|sagacity]], through French.^(Etymonline)

+

+ ==Meanings==

+ ===Noun===

+ # Keenness of [[m|en|scent]], especially of dogs; keenness of the senses in general.^(OLD 2012)^(Lewis & Short 1879)^(Georges 1913)

+ # [[m|en|acuteness|alt=Acuteness]] of mind, [[m|en|shrewdness]], [[m|en|sagacity]], flair.^(OLD 2012)^(Lewis & Short 1879)^(Stelten 1995)

+ # ''(Medieval Latin)'' Keenness, eagerness for something, zeal.^(DMLBS)

+

+ ==Related words==

+ * [[sagāx]]

+ * [[sāgiō]]

+ * [[sāgus]]

+ * [[praesāgiō]]

+ * [[en|sagacity]]

+

+ ==References==

+ {{reflist}}