agnus

From Proto-Italic *agʷnos, from Proto-Indo-European *h₂egʷnós (“lamb”).^[1]

Cognates include Ancient Greek ἀμνός (amnós), Old Church Slavonic агнѧ (agnę), Old English ēanian (English yean), and Albanian enjë.

• (Classical Latin) IPA^(key): [ˈaŋ.nʊs]
• (modern Italianate Ecclesiastical) IPA^(key): [ˈaɲ.ɲus]

agnus m (genitive agnī, feminine agna); second declension

1. a lamb; often used as a sacrifice

   Hypernym: ovis

   • 44 BCE, Cicero, Cato Major 16.56:

     vīllaque […] abundat porcō, haedō, agnō

     The farm abounds in pigs, young goats and lambs.

   • Vulgata—Exodus 12.5:

     Agnus absque maculā.

     A lamb without blemish.

   • Vulgata—Evangelium Joannis 1.29:

     Ecce Agnus Deī.

     Behold the Lamb of God.

Second-declension noun (alternative genitive plural in -um).

• Catalan: anyell
• Italian: agno
• Neapolitan: àino
• Old French: agne, aigne, ainne
• Old Galician-Portuguese: anno, año
  • Galician: año
  • Portuguese: anho
• Sicilian: aiuno, avuno, amuno (Calabrian)

• “agnus”, in Charlton T. Lewis and Charles Short (1879), A Latin Dictionary, Oxford: Clarendon Press
• “agnus”, in Charlton T. Lewis (1891), An Elementary Latin Dictionary, New York: Harper & Brothers
• "agnus", in Charles du Fresne du Cange, Glossarium Mediæ et Infimæ Latinitatis (augmented edition with additions by D. P. Carpenterius, Adelungius and others, edited by Léopold Favre, 1883–1887)
• “agnus”, in Gaffiot, Félix (1934), Dictionnaire illustré latin-français, Hachette.
• agnus in Ramminger, Johann (16 July 2016 (last accessed)), Neulateinische Wortliste: Ein Wörterbuch des Lateinischen von Petrarca bis 1700‎^[1], pre-publication website, 2005-2016
• “agnus” on page 97/2 of the Oxford Latin Dictionary (2nd ed., 2012)
• Walther von Wartburg (1928–2002), “agnus”, in Französisches Etymologisches Wörterbuch, volume 24: Refonte A–Aorte, page 266
• Meyer-Lübke, Wilhelm (1911), “agnus”, in Romanisches etymologisches Wörterbuch (in German), page 19

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]

• IPA^(key): /ɐɡˈnʊs/

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

1. (Samogitian) agile, energetic

• agnumas
• agniai

• “agnus”, in Lietuvių kalbos žodynas [Dictionary of the Lithuanian language], lkz.lt, 1941–2026
• “agnus”, in Dabartinės lietuvių kalbos žodynas [Dictionary of contemporary Lithuanian], ekalba.lt, 1954–2026

• (Standard Tagalog) IPA^(key): /ʔaɡˈnus/ [ʔɐɡˈn̪ʊs]
• Rhymes: -us
• Syllabification: ag‧nus

agnús (Baybayin spelling ᜀᜄ᜔ᜈᜓᜐ᜔)

1. alternative form of agnos