saga Latin · revision 34431

+ {{infobox|confidence=established|formation=derivation|attested=c. 180–102 BC, Lucilius|origins=la sāgus}}

+

+ ==Pronunciation==

+ * Classical: [ˈsaː.ɡa]^(Wiktionary)

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

+

+ ==Forms==

+ '''sāga''' ''f'' (genitive sāgae); first declension^(Wiktionary)

+

+ ==Etymology==

+ It is [[der|la|sāgus|t=prophetic]], its feminine used as a noun.^(OLD 2012)^(Wiktionary) De Vaan notes that the adjective appears only after the Republic and that the compound [[m|la|praesāgiō|t=to foresee]] is attested before the simple verb [[m|la|sāgiō|t=to perceive keenly]], which may be a back-formation from it; he reconstructs [[itc-pro|*sāg-ije/o-|t=to seek, perceive]] and, with a query, [[ine-pro|*seh₂ǵ-i-|t=tracking]].^(de Vaan 2008) Cognates include [[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) Cicero explains the name: these old women want to know a great deal, and the verb means to perceive keenly.^(Lewis & Short 1879)

+

+ ==Earliest recorded meaning==

+ De Vaan dates it from Lucilius,^(de Vaan 2008) who has ''ut saga et bona conciliatrix'', “like a wise woman and a good go-between”.^(Lewis & Short 1879)^(Conte 2010)

+

+ ==Semantic evolution==

+ It names a wise woman, fortune-teller or witch, in Cicero, Tibullus, Horace, Propertius and Ovid, and in Columella.^(Lewis & Short 1879)^(Conte 2010) Because such women often acted as go-betweens, it could also mean a procuress: Turpilius speaks of a ''saga conducta pretio'', a wise woman hired for a fee, and Nonius defines ''sagae'' as women who track out men for lust.^(Lewis & Short 1879) In Ecclesiastical Latin it is a witch.^(Stelten 1995)

+

+ ==Timeline==

+ * c. 180–102 BC – Lucilius pairs ''saga'' with ''conciliatrix'', a go-between.^(Lewis & Short 1879)^(de Vaan 2008)^(Köbler 2010)

+ * 2nd century BC – Turpilius uses it of a hired wise woman.^(Lewis & Short 1879)^(Köbler 2010)

+ * 81–43 BC – Cicero explains the name from ''sagire'', to perceive keenly.^(Lewis & Short 1879)^(Köbler 2010)

+ * 43 BC–18 AD – Ovid uses it of a witch.^(Lewis & Short 1879)^(Conte 2010)^(Köbler 2010)

+

+ ==Meanings==

+ ===Noun===

+ # A wise woman, [[m|en|fortune-teller]], [[m|en|witch]].^(OLD 2012)^(Lewis & Short 1879)^(Conte 2010)

+ # A [[m|en|procuress]], go-between.^(Lewis & Short 1879)

+

+ ==Word family==

+ * [[Sagana]]

+

+ ==Related words==

+ * [[sagāx]]

+ * [[praesāgiō]]

+

+ ==Usage notes==

+ Lewis and Short also enter ''săga'', with a short vowel, as a form of [[sagum]], the military cloak.^(Lewis & Short 1879) In New Latin ''saga'' also means a saga, borrowed from [[non|saga]].^(Wiktionary)

+

+ ==References==

+ {{reflist}}