ensis

== English == === Noun === ensis plural of ensi === Anagrams === I-ness, sines, Nisse, sensi, SINEs, snies, Neiss, seins, Sensi, siens == Latin == === Etymology === Uncertain. Perhaps cognate with Palaic 𒄩𒅆𒄿𒊏𒄠 (ḫa-ši-i-ra-am, “dagger”), Sanskrit असि (así, “sword”), and Ancient Greek ἄορ (áor, “(hanger for a) sword”). De Vaan reconstructs Proto-Indo-European *h₁ensi- (“sword, large knife”); however, the ḫ- of the Palaic form is incompatible with an initial *h₁-. Yet, a reconstruction *h₂n̥sis is problematic for Latin as it would violate Rix's Law, according to which the outcome **ānsis would be expected (compare Latin ambi-, from *h₂m̥bʰí). The linguist Stefan Höfler, however, contents the operation of Rix's Law in Latin, citing forms such as ēnsis and the possible derivation from *h₂n̥sís as evidence. Another possibility is that the term could maybe reflect a paradigm *h₂ḗnsis ~ *h₂n̥séys, in which case the lengthened grade would have been generalized in Italic. Ultimately, according to De Vaan, all alleged Indo-European cognates are uncertain. Schrijver argues that words denoting material objects are easily borrowed, allowing for the possibility that the resemblance between this word and other Indo-European forms is partially coincidental. Regardless, the EIEC—which reconstructs the PIE form as *h2/3ṇsis—still argues that the form likely dates back to Proto-Indo-European. === Pronunciation === (Classical Latin) IPA(key): [ˈẽː.sɪs] (modern Italianate Ecclesiastical) IPA(key): [ˈɛn.sis] === Noun === ēnsis m (genitive ēnsis); third declension (chiefly poetic) sword, brand Synonym: gladius Synonym: framea (figuratively) war lātēque vagātur ēnsis ― and far and wide the sword wanders (figuratively) defender Mārcellō Rōmānōrum ēnsī ― to Marcellus, the Romans’ sword (figuratively) royal sway (metonymic) the constellation Orion ==== Declension ==== Third-declension noun (i-stem). ==== Derived terms ==== ēnsifer ēnsiculus ==== Descendants ==== Translingual: Ensis ==== References ==== “ensis”, in Charlton T. Lewis and Charles Short (1879), A Latin Dictionary, Oxford: Clarendon Press “ensis”, in Charlton T. Lewis (1891), An Elementary Latin Dictionary, New York: Harper & Brothers "ensis", 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) “ensis”, in Gaffiot, Félix (1934), Dictionnaire illustré latin-français, Hachette. “ensis”, in Harry Thurston Peck, editor (1898), Harper’s Dictionary of Classical Antiquities, New York: Harper & Brothers “ensis”, in William Smith et al., editor (1890), A Dictionary of Greek and Roman Antiquities, London: William Wayte. G. E. Marindin Sihler, Andrew L. (1995), New Comparative Grammar of Greek and Latin, Oxford, New York: Oxford University Press, →ISBN, page 171 Pokorny, Julius (1959), “ṇsi-s”, in Indogermanisches etymologisches Wörterbuch [Indo-European Etymological Dictionary] (in German), volume 3, Bern, München: Francke Verlag, page 771