Aegis Has Greek and Latin Roots

We borrowed "aegis" from Latin, but the word ultimately derives from the Greek noun aigis, which means "goatskin." In ancient Greek mythology, an aegis was something that offered physical protection. In some stories, it was the thundercloud where Zeus kept the thunderbolts he used as weapons. In others, the aegis was a magical protective cloak made from the skin of the goat that had suckled Zeus as an infant. The word first entered English in the 15th century as a noun meaning "shield" or "protection," and by the 20th century it had acquired the extended senses of "auspices" or "sponsorship."

Examples of aegis in a Sentence

having no claim to the land under the aegis of the law, the cattle baron decided to claim it by force a medical study that was questioned by many because it was done under the aegis of a major pharmaceutical company

Recent Examples on the Web Along the 250-mile stretch of border from Miguel Alemán to the coast, all the migrant smuggling is carried out under the aegis of the Gulf Cartel, Mexico’s original crime syndicate. — Seth Harp, Rolling Stone, 14 June 2021 Recent graduates have traditionally been able to take time to learn on the job, working under the aegis of more seasoned employees. — Curtis Odom, Forbes, 7 June 2021 Leaving was a tough decision; Patterson and her daughter were both married in St. James and her late husband was buried under its aegis. — Todd Richmond And David Crary, Milwaukee Journal Sentinel, 8 June 2021 Second, and more fundamentally, the question of what falls under the aegis of ESG in the first place is too vague to constitute a meaningful boundary for policy-making. — Richard Morrison, National Review, 12 May 2021 But trying to merge departments could be difficult in some cases, because many politicians are loath to give up an agency operating under their aegis. — Washington Post, 8 May 2021 Both are under the aegis of Italian-American chef Giancarla Bodoni, who also steers Monteverdi's Culinary Academy. — Lee Marshall, Travel + Leisure, 1 May 2021 Since 2008, the Lenape Center of Manhattan has maintained an active office, under the aegis of the New York Foundation for the Arts, in the core of what its directors call Lenapehoking: the Lenape homeland. — Joshua Jelly-schapiro, The New Yorker, 13 Apr. 2021 The old comrades would now co-sponsor a bus-tour road show of rallies under the aegis of her current group, Women for America First. — Adele M. Stan, The New Republic, 10 Mar. 2021

These example sentences are selected automatically from various online news sources to reflect current usage of the word 'aegis.' Views expressed in the examples do not represent the opinion of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback.