acies

English

Etymology

Borrowed from Latin aciēs (“edge, sharpness”).

Noun

acies (uncountable)

1. (obsolete) The full attention of one's sight, hearing or other senses, as directed towards a particular object.
   • 1658: And therefore providence hath arched and paved the great house of the world, with colours of mediocrity, that is, blew and green, above and below the sight, moderately terminating the acies of the eye. — Sir Thomas Browne, The Garden of Cyrus (Folio Society 2007, p. 204)

Anagrams

• acise, saice

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Latin

Etymology

(deprecated template usage)

From Proto-Indo-European *h₂eḱ- (“sharp, pointed”). The Indo-European root is also the source of Greek ἀκή (akḗ, “point”).

The Proto-Germanic *agjō came from the Indo-European roots as well; and from there came the Old Frisian egg, Old Saxon eggia (Dutch egge); Old English ecg (English edge); Old High German egga (German Ecke); Old Norse egg (Icelandic egg, Swedish egg).

Pronunciation

• (Classical Latin) IPA^(key): /ˈa.ki.eːs/, [ˈäkieːs̠]
• (modern Italianate Ecclesiastical) IPA^(key): /ˈa.t͡ʃi.es/, [ˈäːt͡ʃies]

• audio (ecclesiastical):

  (file)

Noun

aciēs f (genitive aciēī); fifth declension

1. sharp edge or point
2. battle line
3. battle, engagement
4. (Late Latin) steel

Declension

Fifth-declension noun.

Case	Singular	Plural
Nominative	aciēs	aciēs
Genitive	aciēī	aciērum
Dative	aciēī	aciēbus
Accusative	aciem	aciēs
Ablative	aciē	aciēbus
Vocative	aciēs	aciēs

Descendants

• Asturian: aceru
• Catalan: acer
• French: acier
• Friulian: açâr, açâl
• Galician: aceiro
• Italian: acciaio
• Maltese: azzar

• Neapolitan: acciaro
• Occitan: acièr
• Old Galician-Portuguese: az
• Romansch: atschal, itschal, atschel
• Portuguese: az, ácie, aceiro, aço
• Sicilian: azzaru
• Spanish: haz, acero
• Venetian: açal, çal, azhal, asal

References

• “acies”, in Charlton T. Lewis and Charles Short (1879) A Latin Dictionary, Oxford: Clarendon Press
• “acies”, in Charlton T. Lewis (1891) An Elementary Latin Dictionary, New York: Harper & Brothers
• acies in Charles du Fresne du Cange’s Glossarium Mediæ et Infimæ Latinitatis (augmented edition with additions by D. P. Carpenterius, Adelungius and others, edited by Léopold Favre, 1883–1887)
• acies in Gaffiot, Félix (1934) Dictionnaire illustré latin-français, Hachette.
• Carl Meißner, Henry William Auden (1894) Latin Phrase-Book‎^[1], London: Macmillan and Co.
  • to gaze intently all around: in omnes partes aciem (oculorum) intendere
    
  • to dazzle a person: oculorum aciem alicui praestringere (also simply praestringere)
    
  • to lead the army to the fight: exercitum educere or producere in aciem
    
  • to enter the field of battle: in aciem descendere (Liv. 8. 8)
    
  • to draw up forces in battle-order: aciem (copias, exercitum) instruere or in acie constituere
    
  • to draw up the army in three lines: aciem triplicem instruere (B. G. 1. 24)
    
  • to extend the line of battle, deploy the battalions: aciem explicare or dilatare
    
  • the centre: media acies
    
  • to fight a pitched battle: acie (armis, ferro) decernere
    
  • to fight a pitched battle: in acie dimicare
    
  • to break through the enemy's centre: per medios hostes (mediam hostium aciem) perrumpere
    
  • the line of battle gives way: acies inclīnat or inclīnatur (Liv. 7. 33)
    
  • the enemy's line is repulsed: acies hostium impellitur
    
• “acies”, in Harry Thurston Peck, editor (1898), Harper's Dictionary of Classical Antiquities, New York: Harper & Brothers
• “acies”, in William Smith et al., editor (1890), A Dictionary of Greek and Roman Antiquities, London: William Wayte. G. E. Marindin