Tuesday, August 29, 2006

Word of the Day ArchiveMonday August 28, 2006 aegis

aegis \EE-jis\,
noun:1. Protection; support.2. Sponsorship; patronage.3. Guidance, direction, or control.4. A shield or protective armor; -- applied in mythology to the shield of Zeus.
  • It is this ideal of the human under the aegis of something higher which seems to me to provide the strongest counterpressure against the fragmentation and barbarization of our world.-- Ted J. Smith III (Editor), In Defense of Tradition: Collected Shorter Writings of Richard M. Weaver, 1929-1963
  • A third round of talks is scheduled to begin on May 23rd in New York under the aegis of the United Nations.-- "Denktash declared head after rival withdraws", Irish Times, April 21, 2000
  • In real life, Lang's father was commercially astute and fantastically hardworking, and under his aegis the construction business flourished.-- Patrick McGilligan, Fritz Lang: The Nature of the Beast

Aegis derives from the Greek aigis, the shield of Zeus, from aix, aig-, "a goat," many primitive shields being goatskin-covered.

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