aegis Latin · revision 3988

+ {{infobox|confidence=established|formation=borrowing|attested=Virgil|origins=grc αἰγίς}}

+

+ ==Pronunciation==

+ * IPA (Classical): [ˈae̯.ɡɪs]^(Wiktionary)

+ * IPA (Ecclesiastical): [ˈɛː.d͡ʒis]^(Wiktionary)

+

+ ==Forms==

+ '''aegis''' ''f'' (genitive aegidos or aegidis); third declension^(Wiktionary)

+

+ ==Etymology==

+ It is [[bor|grc|αἰγίς|tr=aigís]].^(OLD 2012)^(Wiktionary)^(Saalfeld 1874) Etymonline reports that Herodotus related the Greek word to [[grc|αἴξ|tr=aíx|t=goat]].^(Etymonline) Servius explains the aegis as the hide of the goat Amalthea.^(TLL)

+

+ ==Earliest recorded meaning==

+ Virgil, in the Aeneid, has Jupiter shaking the dark aegis with his right hand.^(OLD 2012) Köbler dates Virgil 70–19 BC.^(Köbler 2010)

+

+ ==Semantic evolution==

+ It was the skin shield of Jupiter and of Minerva, the latter bearing the Gorgon's head, in Virgil, Horace and Ovid.^(OLD 2012)^(Lewis & Short 1879) Servius describes it as a bronze breastplate with the Gorgon's head in the middle.^(TLL) Ovid uses it figuratively of the jewellery with which girls hide their plainness.^(Lewis & Short 1879)^(Gaffiot 2016)

+

+ Pliny reports that the Greeks called the heartwood of the female larch ''aegis''.^(OLD 2012)^(TLL) In medieval glosses it meant a goatskin and a breastplate.^(MLW) English ''aegis'' was borrowed figuratively, “protection”, in 1793.^(Etymonline)

+

+ ==Timeline==

+ * 70–19 BC – Virgil uses it of the shields of Jupiter and Minerva.^(OLD 2012)^(Köbler 2010)

+ * 65–8 BC – Horace uses it of Pallas' sounding aegis.^(Lewis & Short 1879)^(Köbler 2010)

+ * 23/24–79 AD – Pliny the Elder uses it of the heartwood of the larch.^(OLD 2012)^(Köbler 2010)

+ * 1793 – English ''aegis'' is recorded in the sense “protection”.^(Etymonline)

+

+ ==Meanings==

+ ===Noun===

+ # The [[m|en|aegis]], the skin [[m|en|shield]] of Jupiter or Minerva.^(OLD 2012)^(Wiktionary)

+ # ''(figurative)'' A shield, [[m|en|protection]].^(Lewis & Short 1879)^(Gaffiot 2016)

+ # Heartwood of the [[m|en|larch]].^(OLD 2012)^(Wiktionary)

+ # ''(Medieval Latin)'' A goatskin; a breastplate.^(MLW)

+

+ ==Word family==

+ * [[aegida]]

+ * [[aegisonus]]

+

+ ==Related words==

+ * [[en|aegis]]

+

+ ==References==

+ {{reflist}}