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Webster 1913 Edition


Agnus


Ag′nus

,
Noun.
;
pl. E.
Agnuses
; L.
Agni
.
[L., a lamb.]
Agnus Dei.

Definition 2024


agnus

agnus

Latin

agnus (a lamb)

Noun

agnus m (genitive agnī); second declension

  1. a lamb, especially one used as a sacrifice
    Agnus absque maculā.
    A lamb without blemish.
    Villa abundat porco, haedo, agno.
    The farm abounds in pigs, young goats and lambs.
    Ecce Agnus Dei.
    Behold the Lamb of God.

Inflection

Second declension, with contracted genitive plural.

Case Singular Plural
nominative agnus agnī
genitive agnī agnōrum
agnum1
dative agnō agnīs
accusative agnum agnōs
ablative agnō agnīs
vocative agne agnī

1Contraction found in poetry.

Derived terms

  • agnellus
  • Agnus Deī
  • agnum lupo eripere velle (to wish the impossible, literally: to wish to rescue a lamb from a wolf)

Descendants

References


Lithuanian

Etymology

A verbal adjective from an unattested root *ag- ("to drive"), paralleled by Old Irish án (quick) < *ag-nos, Sanskrit अजिर (ajirá-, agile, quick). Ultimately from Proto-Indo-European *h₂eǵ- (to drive); compare Old Irish aigid, Sanskrit अजति (ajati). The Lithuanian form appears to have undergone depalatalization before the nasal.[1]

The connection with Russian яглый (jaglyj, active, energetic) is rejected by Vasmer.[2]

Pronunciation

IPA(key): /ɐgˈnʊs/

Adjective

agnùs m (feminine agnì, neuter agnù, stress pattern 4)

  1. (Samogitian) agile, energetic

Declension

Derived terms

  • agnumas

References

  1. Jurij Vladimirovič Otkupščikov (1967) Iz istorii indojevropejskovo slovoobrazovanija [From the History of Indo-European Word Formation], page 227
  2. Fasmer, Maks (1964–1973), яглый”, in Etimologičeskij slovarʹ russkovo jazyka [Etymological Dictionary of the Russian Language] (in Russian), translated from German and supplemented by Trubačev O. N., Moscow: Progress