ager

Forms

ager m or n (feminine singular ageră, masculine plural ageri, feminine/neuter plural agere)^[1]

Etymology

It is inherited from Latin agilis (“nimble, quick”), which changed its declension in Romanian.^[2][3][4][1] The DA reconstructs an intermediate form *agere, which then changed its declension.^[5] Hasdeu found the older agere, used for both genders and continuing the Latin accusative, still in use beside the newer form in the 17th century.^[6] The Latin adjective is a derivative of agō (“to drive, to act”).^[7] Hasdeu rejected Cihac's view that it is from ācer (“sharp”) and a doublet of acru.^[6]

agil is the same word borrowed in modern times from French agile;^[2] Ciorănescu keeps the two apart, the neologism for bodily nimbleness and the inherited word with a touch of mental quickness.^[2]

Earliest recorded meaning

The first record is in the Palia de la Orăștie of 1581–1582, where Naphtali is „cerb ager” “a swift stag” (Genesis 49:21).^[8][9] The sense is “quick in movement, nimble”.^[8][9]

Semantic evolution

From “swift, nimble”, used mostly of animals but also of people, the adjective came to mean “strong, vigorous” and, in the old language, “bold” and “irascible”.^[5][9][4] Of the mind it means “quick-witted, sharp”, and of the eyes “keen, piercing”.^[3][5] The old sense “sharp-edged” of objects appears in the Lexicon of Buda, which Hasdeu suspected of having given it to suit its derivation from Latin acer.^[6][3] In folk speech agerul pământului is a monster.^[4]

Its derivatives appear in the second half of the 17th century: agerie “quickness” in Nicolae Milescu, agerește, ageri and agerime in Teodor Corbea's dictionary.^[8]

Timeline

• 1581–1582 – ager “swift” in the Palia de la Orăștie, the first record.^[8][9]
• 1651–1680 – agerie “quickness” in Nicolae Milescu.^[8]
• c. 1670 – ager and agere glossing Latin agilis in a Banat dictionary manuscript.^[6]
• 1688 – ager in the Bucharest Bible (James 1:19).^[10]
• 1691–1697 – agerește, ageri and agerime in Teodor Corbea's dictionary.^[8]

Meanings

Adjective

1. Quick in movement, nimble, agile.^[3][1]
2. Quick-witted, clever, sharp: un copil ager la minte.^[3][1]
3. (of the eyes or a look) Keen, piercing.^[3][4]
4. (obsolete, of objects) Sharp, cutting.^[3][1]

Word family

• agerește
• ageri
• agerie
• agerime

Related words

• agil
• Latin agilis

References

1. ^ a b c d e f Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
2. ^ a b c Ciorănescu, Alexandru (1958–1966), Diccionario etimológico rumano, La Laguna: Universidad de La Laguna (Romanian ed.: Dicționarul etimologic al limbii române, București: Saeculum, 2001), p. s.v. ager
3. ^ a b c d e f g DEX (2009), Dicționarul explicativ al limbii române [Explanatory dictionary of the Romanian language], Bucharest: Editura Univers Enciclopedic, p. 20
4. ^ a b c d Academia Română, Institutul de Lingvistică „Iorgu Iordan – Al. Rosetti” (2010), Micul dicționar academic, 2nd ed., 4 vols., București: Univers Enciclopedic Gold, p. 1, 27
5. ^ a b c Academia Română (1913–1949), Dicționarul limbii române (DA), ed. Sextil Pușcariu, tom I (A–B, C, D–De) and tom II (F–I, J–Lojniță), București: Socec / Universul / Monitorul Oficial și Imprimeriile Statului; page scans at cflr-scans.solirom.ro, p. s.v. ager
6. ^ a b c d Hasdeu, B. P. (1886–1898), Etymologicum Magnum Romaniae: dicționarul limbei istorice și poporane a românilor, 4 vols. (A–Bărbat), București: Socec, p. s.v. ager
7. ^ Graur, Alexandru (1980), Cuvinte înrudite, București: Editura Științifică și Enciclopedică, p. 18
8. ^ a b c d e f Academia Română, Institutul de Lingvistică „Iorgu Iordan – Al. Rosetti” (2011–), Dicționarul etimologic al limbii române (DELR), vol. I: A–B (2011), vol. II: C (2015–2018), București: Editura Academiei Române; continued online at delr.lingv.ro, p. s.v. ager
9. ^ a b c d Tiktin, Hariton (2000–2005), Rumänisch-deutsches Wörterbuch, 3rd ed., revised by Paul Miron and Elsa Lüder, 3 vols., Cluj-Napoca: Clusium, p. s.v. ager
10. ^ Biblia, adecă Dumnezeiasca Scriptură a ceii vechi și a ceii noao leage, București, 1688 (ed. 1988, tricentennial edition), p. Iac 1:19