/ˈiːd͡ʒɪs/
OriginBorrowed from Latin aegis, from Ancient Greek αἰγίς (aigís, “goatskin; shield of Athena”), probably from αἴξ (aíx, “goat”), from Proto-Indo-European *h₂eyǵ- (“goat”).
The plural form aegides (/ˈiːd͡ʒɪdiːz/) is borrowed from Latin aegides, from Ancient Greek αἰγῐ́δες (aigĭ́des).
- Greek, RomanA mythological shield associated with the Greek deities Zeus and Athena (and their Roman counterparts Jupiter and Minerva) shown as a short cloak made of goatskin worn on the shoulders, more as an emblem of power and protection than a military shield.
“The goat Amalthea, which had suckled Jove, being dead, that god is said to have covered his buckler with the skin thereof, whence the appellation Aegis, from αιξ, αιγις, a she-goat. Jupiter afterwards”
“Herodotus, as proof of this origin of Minerva, says, that the Greeks had taken from the Libyan women, the dress and the ægis with which her statues were represented: this dress was of leather: the ægi”
“The robe and aegides of the statues of Minerva the Greeks have made in imitation of the Lybians, for except that the robe among the Lybians is of leather and the fringes of the aegis are not serpents ”
- figurativelyGuidance, protection; endorsement, sponsorship.
“under the aegis”
“[T]hree ex-Secretaries of State for War had learnt their military theory under the ægis of Regular soldiers. Now it is an admitted fact that, broad-minded and enterprising as soldiers have frequently ”
“The original designs were drawn up under the aegis of Mr. O. V. S. Bulleid, then Chief Mechanical Engineer.”
- abbreviation, acronym, alt-ofAcronym of Autonomous Exploration for Gathering Increased Science.
Formsaegises(plural) · aegides(plural) · ægis(alternative) · egis(alternative)