noun · neuterthird declension
agmen
agmen n (genitive agminis)
Classical[ˈaɡ.mɛn]Ecclesiastical[ˈaɡ.men]
№ 358 of the 1,000 commonest wordsMille Verba core vocabulary
Meaning
- neutera train of something; multitude, host, crowd, flock
- neuteran army, column, troop, band; line or rank of troops
[...] ac ventī, velut agmine factō,
… And the winds, as if become a [charging] column, whereby given passage rush [forth] and blow ’cross the world in a whirlwind. (King Aeolus releases the winds like a military force to destroy the Trojan fleet. See: Aeolus (son of Hippotes).)29 BCE – 19 BCE, Vergilius, Aeneis 1.82–83 - neuterstream, course, current, motion
- neuterprocession, march, progress, movement
“[...] Illī agmine certō / Lāocoönta petunt [...].” “[The sea serpents] with a steady march make straight for Laocoön ….” – Aeneas
29 BCE – 19 BCE, Vergilius, Aeneis 2.212–213
Latīnē defined in Latin in our graded readers
exercitus quī viā it, longō ōrdine.agmen -inis n — in Mille Verba, Bellum et Arma
exercitus in viā iēnsagmen -inis (n) — in IVLIANVS I: Gallia, ch. 6
ōrdō exercitūs iter facientiscolumn of march
agmen -inis (n) — in De Bello Gallico II, ch. 5 and De Bello Gallico III, ch. 18
multitūdō ōrdine iēnsagmen -inis (n) — in Aeneis, ch. 16
Choosing the right word Döderlein's Latin Synonyms
Caterva · Cohors · Agmen · Grex · Globus · Turba
Caterva, cohors, and agmen, denote an assembled multitude in regular order, and caterva, as a limited whole, according to a sort of military arrangement; cohors, as respecting and observing the leadership of a commanding officer; agmen, as a solemn procession; whereas turba, grex, and globus, denote a multitude assembled in no regular order, grex, without form or order; turba, with positive disorder and confusion; globus, a thronging mass of people, which, from each person pressing towards the centre, assumes a circular form. (v. 361.)
Declension
| form | singular | plural |
|---|---|---|
| nominative | agmen | agmina |
| genitive | agminis | agminum |
| dative | agminī | agminibus |
| accusative | agmen | agmina |
| ablative | agmine | agminibus |
| vocative | agmen | agmina |
Phrases from Meissner's Latin Phrase-Book
- agmen agere
- to set the army in motion.
- agmen primum
- the vanguard.
- raptim agmen ducere
- to lead the army with forced marches.
- citatum agmen rapere
- to lead the army with forced marches.
- agmen claudere, cogere
- to bring up the rear.
- agmine duplici, triplici
- in two, three columns.
- agmen medium (Liv. 10. 41)
- the centre of the marching column.
- agmen novissimum (extremum)
- the rearguard.
2 more phrases
- agmine quadrato incedere, ire
- to march with closed ranks, in order of battle.
- agmen, exercitum demittere in...
- to march down on to...
agmĕn, ĭnis, n. as if contr. from agimen, from ago; cf.: tegimen, tegmen, from tego.
I. Lit.
A. In gen., a train, i. e. a collected multitude in motion or moving forwards; of things of any kind, but esp. (so most freq. in prose) of men or animals. —Of streams of water, motion, course, current: quod per amoenam urbem lent fluit agmine flumen, Enn. ap. Macr. S. 6, 4:
inde super terras fluit agmine dulci, Lucr. 5, 272; cf. id. 6, 638; also, in imitation of Enn., Virg. and Val. Fl.: leni fluit agmine Thybris, Verg. A. 2, 782; cf. Val. Fl. 4, 721.—Of a train or succession of clouds: denso sunt agmine nubes, Lucr. 6, 100.—Of rain: immensum caelo venit agmen aquarum, body, mass, Verg. G. 1, 322 —Of atoms: agmine condenso naturam corporis explent, crowded into a compact mass, Lucr. 1, 607.—Of oars: agmine re morum ceieri, with quick plashing of oars, Verg. A. 5, 211.—Of a flock of birds: agmi ne magno. Corvorum. Verg. G. 1, 381.—Of a snake winding onwards: cum medii nexus extremaeque agmina caudae Solvuntur, Verg. G. 3, 424; cf. id. A. 2, 212.—Of clouds of dust following any thing in rapid motion, as men, animals, etc.: agmina cervi Pulverulenta, Verg. A. 4, 154.—And, as subst. concr., of birds turba Agminis aligeri, of the winged band, Verg A. 12, 249.—Of ants; frugilegas aspeximus agmine longo formi cas, Ov. M 7, 624; so id. ib. 7, 638.—Of the stars: diffugiunt stellae; quarum agmina cogit Lucifer, Ov. M. 2, 114; so id. ib. 11, 97 al.—Eap. of a company of persons, a multitude, troop, crowd, number, band: ut a Brundisic nsque Romam agmen perpetuum totius Italiae viderem, Cic. Pis. 22: magno senatorum agmine, Tac. H. 3, 55: ingens mulierum agmen, Liv. 2, 40: muliebre et miserabile agmen, Tac. A. 1, 40: numerosum agmen reorum, Plin Ep. 3, 9, and Tac. H. 4, 6: Eumenidum agmina, Verg A. 4, 469.—But particularly, B. The train, procession, march, progress of an army:
de castris, de agminibus, etc., dicere, Cic. de Or. 1, 48, 210: ne miles gregarius in castris, neve in agmine servum aut jumentum haberet, Sall. J. 45, 2: pugnatum saepe directā acie, saepe in agminibus, saepe eruptionibus, Vell. 2, 47: effuso agmine abire, Liv. 44, 39: uno agmine victores cum victis in urbem irrupere, id. 2, 30; uno agmine persequentes, Vulg. Judith, 15, 4 al.—II. Transf., concr., an army, and properly considered as in motion, on the march (while exercitus is a disciplined army, and acies an army in battle-array) —As soon as the signal for marching was given, the Extraordinarii and the allies of the right wing, with their baggage, first put themselves in motion, then the legions, and last the allies of the left wing, with a part of the cavalry, which either rode behind the army, ad agmen claudendum or cogendum. to close the train, i. e. to keep it to gether or on the side in such an order (composito agmine, non itineri magis apto quam proelio) that it might be easily put into the line of battle, if the enemy ven tured to attack it; cf. Sall. J. 46, 6.—An army in close ranks was called agmen justum, Tac. H. 1, 68, or agmen pilatum, Serv. ad Verg. A. 12, 121—When there was no apprehension of the enemy, less care was taken for the protection of the army:
agmine incauto, i. e. minus munito, ut inter pacatos, ducebat, sc. consul, Liv. 35, 4.— The order of march was, however, different, according to circumstances and the nature of the ground, Liv. 35, 4; 27, 28; and cf. Smith's Antiq.—Sometimes the army marched in the form of a square, agmen quadratum, with their baggage in the middle, so as to be in battle-array on meeting the enemy; hence agmen quadratum often means the same as acies triplex, an army formed in line of battle, only that the former indicates that they are on the march, and the latter that they are at rest.—Hence, like acies, with the epithet primum, the vanguard, Liv. 34, 28; Tac. Agr. 35: medium, the centre, Liv. 10, 41; Tac. H. 4, 22: extremum, Liv. 34, 28; Tac. H. 2, 100; or, novissimum, the rear, rearguard, Liv. 44, 33; so, extremi agminis, Vulg. Deut. 25, 18: ut inde agmine quadratc ad urbem accederet, marching in a square, Cic. Phil. 13, 8: pariter atque in conspectu hostium quadrato agmine incedere, Sall. J 100, 1; cf. id. ib. 46, 6, 7: Hannibal agmine quadrato amnem ingressus, Liv. 21, 5; se id. 31, 36; 37, 39: quadrato agmine velut in aciem irent, Curt. 5, 1, 19 al.—Sometimes, esp. in the poets in the plur., in gen. sense, = exercitus or copiae, an army, host, troops: huic tanto agmini dux defuit, Just. 12, 10: occidit Daci Cotisonis agmen, Hor. C. 3, 8, 18: agmina curru Proterit, Verg. A. 12, 329: barbarorum Claudius agmina diruit, Hor. C. 4, 14, 29; so id. S. 2, 1, 14; id. Epod. 17, 9; Ov. M. 3, 535; 5, 151, 161; 6, 423: Del agminum Israël, Vulg. 1 Reg. 17, 45: agmina ejus dispergam, ib. Ezech. 12, 14; 38, 6.—For military service, warfare: rudis agminum Sponsus, Hor. C. 3, 2, 9.—B. Trop.
1. An army, troop, band, multitude:
educenda dictio est ex hac domesticā exercitatione et umbratili medium in agmen, in pulverem, in clamorem, in castra, aciemque forensem, i. e. before the public, Cic. de Or. 1, 34, 157: e Brundisio usque Romam agmen perpetuum totius Italiae, an unbroken train, id. Pis. 22, 51: ingens mulierum agmen, Liv. 2, 40; 9, 17: agmina Eumenidum, Verg. A. 4, 469; 6, 572: agmina comitum, Ov. Tr. 14, 30: in angusto fidus comes agmine turbae, Tib. 1, 5, 63: numerosum agmen reorum, Plin. Ep. 3, 9: agmen occupationum, an army of, id. ib. 2, 8.—2. March, movement:
agmina fati et volumina, Gell. 6, 2, 5.Charlton Lewis's shorter dictionary for students: the same scholarship in plain, modern definitions.
āgmen inis, n
ago, that which is driven.— In gen., a multitude, throng, host, troop, crowd, number, band: perpetuum totius Italiae: ingens mulierum, L.: puerile, of boys, V.: Eumenidum agmina, V.: navium, a line of ships (for a breakwater), L.: graniferum, ants, O.: agmina cervi fugā glomerant, V.: (stellarum) agmina, O. — Esp., an army on the march, column: medium hostium, the centre, L.: novissimum hostium ... nostrum primum, rear, van, Cs.: extremum, rear guard, Cs.: confertissimo agmine contendere, in close array, Cs.: certum agminis locum tenere, place in the column: transverso agmine, by a flank movement, L.: agmine tacito, i. e. without signals, L.: agmine quadrato accedere, in solid column: quadrato agmine incedere, in a square, S.—An army, host, troops (cf. exercitus, acies): instructo agmine, L.: agmina curru Proterit, V.: horrentia pilis, H.: coniurata undique pugnant Agmina, O.: venti, velut agmine facto, as if for battle, V.: agmen agens, the naval line of battle, V.: rudis agminum, i. e. in war, H. — A course, train, line, stream, succession: leni fluit agmine, V.: immensum aquarum, V.: agmine longo formicae, in a long line, O.: agmine remorum celeri, with a quick stroke of the oars, V.: extremae agmina caudae, movements, V.: agmine certo, in a straight line, V.—Of an army, a passage, progress, march: de castris, de agminibus ... dicere: in agmine, on the march, S.: in agmine principes facti, to lead, S.: educenda dictio est medium in agmen, before the public.
Origins
From Proto-Indo-European *h₂éǵ-mn̥ ~ *h₂ǵ-mén-s (“army, band, troop; marching of an army”), from the root *h₂eǵ- (“to drive”). Cognate with Sanskrit अज्म॑न् (ájman, “army, band, flock; procession of an army”). Surface analysis is agō (“do, act”) + -men (noun-forming suffix).