Sunday Word: Aegis
aegis [ee-jis]
noun:
1 (classical mythology) the shield or breastplate of Zeus or Athena, bearing at its center the head of the Gorgon
2 protection, support
3 under the imperial aegis
4 sponsorship, auspices
Examples:
The International Dota 2 tournament is set up to be an incredible match between the two very best teams in the world right now. There are incredible stories on both sides, but only one team will be able to lift the aegis and become world champions. (Mike Stubbs, The International Final Is Set Up To Be The Best 'Dota 2' Match Ever, Forbes, September 2024)
My visit was courtesy of Google Art Project, which, in the case of the Met, the Art Institute of Chicago, the Kunsthistorisches Museum, the Rijksmuseum, and a number of other institutions, offers partial glimpses, via Google Street View, into great art and archeology sites around the world, under the aegis of the company's Cultural Institute. (Alexandra Schwartz, Alone in the Virtual Museum, Tribune India, September 2014)
The chiefs about the son of Atreus chose their men and marshalled them, while Minerva went among them holding her priceless aegis that knows neither age nor death. (Homer, The Iliad)
Further, great mystery shrouds the particulars of their overthrow when the aegis of the Roman authority was withdrawn. (James Oliver Bevan, The Towns of Roman Britain)
He had never contemplated the possession of power except under the aegis of some commanding chief. (Benjamin Disraeli, Endymion)
Origin:
'protection,' 1793, a figurative use of Latin aegis, from Greek Aigis, the name of the shield of Zeus, a word said by Herodotus to be related to aix (genitive aigos) 'goat,' from PIE aig- 'goat' (source also of Sanskrit ajah, Lithuanian ožys 'he-goat'), as the shield was of goatskin (Online Etymology Dictionary)
English borrowed aegis from Latin, but the word ultimately comes from the Greek noun aigís, meaning 'goatskin.' In ancient Greek mythology, an aegis was something that offered physical protection. It has been depicted in various ways, including as a magical protective cloak made from the skin of the goat that suckled Zeus as an infant, and as a shield fashioned by Hephaestus that bore the severed head of the Gorgon Medusa. The word first entered English in the 15th century as a noun referring to the shield or breastplate associated with Zeus or Athena. It later took on a more general sense of 'protection' and, by the late-19th century, it had acquired the extended senses of 'auspices' and 'sponsorship.' (Merriam-Webster)