English

Reconstructed Roman pugio.

Noun

pugio ‎(plural pugios)

1. a dagger, poignard, especially the kind used by the Ancient Romans.
   • 1786 — Francis Grose, A Treatise on Ancient Armour and Weapons, page 34.

     The Pugio or Dagger was used by the Romans, a species of that weapon called the Hand Seax was worn by the Saxons, with which they massacred the English on Salisbury Plain in 476.

Latin

Etymology

From Proto-Indo-European *peuǵ-, *peuḱ- ‎(“prick, punch”), same source as Ancient Greek πυγμή ‎(pugmḗ, “fist”).

Pronunciation

• (Classical) IPA^(key): /ˈpu.ɡi.oː/, [ˈpʊ.ɡi.oː]

Noun

pugiō m ‎(genitive pugiōnis); third declension

1. a dagger
   • c. 100 CE – 110 CE, Tacitus, Histories 4.29

     multos in moenia egressos pugionibus fodere.

     Many, who had struggled on to the walls, with their short swords they stabbed.

Inflection

Third declension.

Derived terms

• pugiunculus

Descendants

• English: pugio

References

• pugio in Charlton T. Lewis and Charles Short (1879) A Latin Dictionary, Oxford: Clarendon Press
• pugio in Charlton T. Lewis (1891) An Elementary Latin Dictionary, New York: Harper & Brothers
• PUGIO in Charles du Fresne du Cange’s Glossarium Mediæ et Infimæ Latinitatis (augmented edition, 1883–1887)
• Félix Gaffiot (1934), “pugio”, in Dictionnaire Illustré Latin-Français, Paris: Hachette.
• pugio in Harry Thurston Peck, editor (1898) Harper's Dictionary of Classical Antiquities, New York: Harper & Brothers
• pugio in William Smith et al., editor (1890) A Dictionary of Greek and Roman Antiquities, London: William Wayte. G. E. Marindin