English
sagacious
Sagacious comes from Latin sagāx ‘of quick perception, having acute senses’, from Proto-Indo-European *séh₂gyeti ‘to seek out, to track’, and ultimately from *seh₂g-.
- Proto-Indo-Europeanc. 4500–2500 BCE*seh₂g-‘to seek out’reconstructed
- Proto-Indo-European, derivedc. 4500–2500 BCE*séh₂gyeti‘to seek out, to track’reconstructed
- Proto-Italicc. 1500–700 BCE*sāgiōreconstructed
- Latinc. 75 BCE–200 CEsāgiō‘to perceive’
- Latin, derivedc. 75 BCE–200 CEsagāx‘of quick perception, having acute senses’
- Englishearliest quotation 2020sagacious
attested reconstructed ? uncertain or disputed deepest recorded ancestor
Lineage
- Proto-Indo-Europeanc. 4500–2500 BCE*seh₂g-‘to seek out’reconstructed
- Proto-Indo-European, derivedc. 4500–2500 BCE*séh₂gyeti‘to seek out, to track’reconstructed
- Proto-Italicc. 1500–700 BCE*sāgiōreconstructed
- Latinc. 75 BCE–200 CEsāgiō‘to perceive’
- Latin, derivedc. 75 BCE–200 CEsagāx‘of quick perception, having acute senses’
- Englishearliest quotation 2020sagacious
Earliest quotation: 2020, Ben Williams, The U.S. Supreme Court and sexual orientation: “I resort, once again, to a sagacious adage from…”
Formed from -acious
The story
Coined between 1600 and 1610.
Linked words
through Proto-Indo-European *seh₂g- ‘to seek out’
sake, sucker, hegemony, beseech, saya, hegemon, 19 more
through Proto-Indo-European *séh₂gyeti ‘to seek out, to track’
through Latin sāgiō ‘to perceive’
Today it means
adj Having or showing keen discernment, sound judgment, and farsightedness; mentally shrewd.
Language periods are conventional ranges, not dates for this word.
Etymograph / Proto-Indo-European *seh₂g- / sagacious