ager Latin · revision 736

+ ==Pronunciation==

+ * IPA (Classical): [ˈa.ɡɛr]^(Wiktionary)

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

+

+ ==Forms==

+ '''ager''' ''m'' (genitive agrī); second declension^(Wiktionary)

+

+ ==Etymology==

+ It is [[inh|itc-pro|*agro-|t=field]], [[inh|ine-pro|*h₂éǵros|t=uncultivated field, pasture]], a derivative of [[m|ine-pro|*h₂eǵ-|t=to drive, lead]], the root of [[agō]].^(de Vaan 2008)^(Wiktionary) Varro already derived the word from [[m|la|agere]].^(TLL)^(Lewis & Short 1879)

+

+ Cognate with [[xum|ager|t=field]], [[sa|अज्र|tr=ájra-|t=plain]], [[grc|ἀγρός|tr=agrós|t=field]], [[got|𐌰𐌺𐍂𐍃|tr=akrs]] and [[ang|æcer]], the source of [[en|acre]].^(de Vaan 2008)^(Wiktionary)

+

+ ==Earliest recorded meaning==

+ It is found from Plautus onwards.^(de Vaan 2008)^(Köbler 2010) In the ''Amphitruo'' Plautus uses it of the territory of the Teleboans, which the Argives promise to leave.^(OLD 2012)

+

+ ==Semantic evolution==

+ From the start it meant both a territory, as in ''ager Romanus'' or ''ager Tusculanus'', and a privately owned piece of land, an estate or farm.^(OLD 2012)^(Lewis & Short 1879) Land as property gave the legal terms ''ager publicus'' and ''ager privatus'', and land as farmed gave ''agri cultura'' “[[m|en|agriculture]]”.^(OLD 2012) It also meant soil of a particular quality, and the countryside as opposed to the town.^(OLD 2012) In inscriptions ''in agrum'' meant “in depth”, as of the measurements of a tomb plot.^(OLD 2012)

+

+ In medieval Latin it was also a land measure and, in parts of France, a subdivision of a county.^(Niermeyer 1976) Its Romance descendants, such as Romanian ''agru'' and Italian ''agro'', continue the senses “field” and “countryside”.^(DÉRom)

+

+ ==Timeline==

+ * c. 250–184 BC – Plautus uses it for a territory and for a farm.^(OLD 2012)^(Köbler 2010)

+ * 234–149 BC – Cato speaks of the loss of a man's land.^(OLD 2012)^(Köbler 2010)

+ * 116–27 BC – Varro names five kinds of ''ager'' recognised by the augurs.^(OLD 2012)^(Köbler 2010)

+ * 81–43 BC – Cicero writes of the cultivation of fields.^(Georges 1913)^(Köbler 2010)

+ * Middle Ages – It is a land measure and a district of a county.^(Niermeyer 1976)

+

+ ==Meanings==

+ ===Noun===

+ # A [[m|en|territory]], district; the land of a community.^(OLD 2012)^(Lewis & Short 1879)

+ # A piece of privately owned land, an estate, [[m|en|farm]].^(OLD 2012)

+ # Land as property, ''ager publicus'': public land.^(OLD 2012)

+ # Farmland, the fields, ''agri cultura'': [[m|en|agriculture]].^(OLD 2012)

+ # [[m|en|soil|alt=Soil]], a kind of land.^(OLD 2012)

+ # The countryside, as opposed to the town.^(OLD 2012)

+ # ''in agrum'': in depth (of a plot of land).^(OLD 2012)

+ # ''(Medieval Latin)'' A land measure; a subdivision of a county.^(Niermeyer 1976)

+

+ ==Word family==

+ * [[agellus]]

+ * [[agrālis]]

+ * [[agrārius]]

+ * [[agrāticum]]

+ * [[agrestis]]

+ * [[agricultiō]]

+ * [[agricultor]]

+ * [[agricultūra]]

+ * [[agricola]]

+ * [[agrimēnsor]]

+ * [[agripeta]]

+ * [[agrosius]]

+ * [[peregrīnus]]

+

+ ==Related words==

+ * [[agō]]

+ * [[en|acre]]

+ * [[en|agriculture]]

+ * [[en|pilgrim]]

+

+ ==References==

+ {{reflist}}