onagro

Italian

un onagro in cattività — an onager (sense 1) in captivity

raffigurazione di un onagro — depiction of an onager (sense 4)

Etymology

Learned borrowing from Classical Latin onagrus, onager, from Ancient Greek ὄναγρος (ónagros), compound of ὄνος (ónos, “ass, donkey”) +‎ ἄγριος (ágrios, “wild”).

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /ˈɔ.na.ɡro/, /oˈna.ɡro/
• Rhymes: -ɔnaɡro, -aɡro
• Hyphenation: ò‧na‧gro, o‧nà‧gro

Noun

onagro m (plural onagri)

2. onager
   • late 13^th century [1260–1267], anonymous translator, Il tesoro [The treasure], translation of Livres dou Tresor by Brunetto Latini (in Old French); collected in “Asnes, ovvero Asino salvatico [Asnes, that is, Wild donkey]” (chapter 43), Libro V [Book 5], in Luigi Gaiter, editor, Il tesoro‎^[1], volume 2, Bologna: Romagnoli, 1877, pages 214–215:

     […] questo asnes salvatico, che l’uomo chiama onagro, a ciascuna ora del dì e della notte grida una volta, sì che l’uomo può bene conoscere le ore

     [original: cist asnes sauvages que on apele onagres, à chascune hore dou jour et de la nuit crie une foiz, si que l'on puet bien cognoistre les hores]

     this wild ass, which is called onager, cries out once every hour of the day and of the night, so that one can have good knowledge of time

   • 1605 [1304–1309], “Degli asini [About donkeys]” (chapter 59), Libro nono - Di tutti gli animali, che si nutricano in villa [Ninth book - About all the animals which are fed on the farm], in Bastiano de' Rossi, transl., Trattato dell'agricoltura [Treatise on agriculture]‎^[2], Florence: Cosimo Giusti, translation of Rūrālium commodōrum librī XII by Pietro De' Crescenzi (in Medieval Latin), page 446:

     I salvatichi, i quali s’appellano onagri, nascono in Frigia e in Licaonia, ove molte greggi se ne truovano.

     [original: unum ferum, quid vocant onagros, in Phrygia and Lycaonia, ubi sunt greges multi feri]

     The wild ones [donkeys], which are called onagers, are born in Phrygia and in Lycaonia, where many herds of them are found.

3. (loosely, rare) Synonym of asino (“donkey, ass”)
5. (figurative) ignoramus, rube, wild-ass (ignorant person)

   Synonyms: asino, ignorante

7. (military, historical) onager
   • mid 13^th century–a. 1292 [5^th century CE], “De' balestri, ed onagri, e scorpioni, ed arcobalestri [About crossbows, onagers, scorpions, and mounted crossbows]” (chapter 22), in Bono Giamboni, transl., Dell'arte della guerra [On the art of war], translation of Epitoma reī mīlitāris by Publius Flavius Vegetius Renatus (in Late Latin); republished as Dell'arte della guerra libri IV‎^[3], Florence: Giovanni Marenigh, 1815, page 166:

     Contra le dette cose usato è di difendere gli assediati co' balestri, e gli onagri, e gli scorpioni […]

     [original: Adversum haec obsessōs dēfendere cōnsuēvērunt ballistae, onagrī, scorpiōnēs]

     The besieged are usually defended by the above with crossbows, onagers, scorpions

     (literally, “Against the said things it is used to defend the besieged with the crossbows, and the onagers, and the scorpions”)

Derived terms

• pietra d'onagro

Related terms

• onagrocrazia

Further reading

• onagro in Treccani.it – Vocabolario Treccani on line, Istituto dell'Enciclopedia Italiana
• “onagro”, in Grande dizionario della lingua italiana, volume 11 moto–orac, UTET, 1981, page 953

Anagrams

• gorano, ognora, ongaro, orango, organo, organo-, organò, rogano

Latin

Noun

onagrō

1. dative/ablative singular of onager

Portuguese

Etymology

Borrowed from Latin onagrum (“wild ass”), from Hellenistic Ancient Greek ὄναγρος (ónagros, “wild ass”), from ὄνος (ónos, “ass”) + ἄγριος (ágrios, “wild”) (from Proto-Indo-European *h₂éǵros). War machine sense due to its kicking action, similar to that of the ass.

Pronunciation

 

• (Brazil) IPA^(key): /oˈna.ɡɾu/

• (Brazil) IPA^(key): /oˈna.ɡɾu/
  • (Southern Brazil) IPA^(key): /oˈna.ɡɾo/

• (Portugal) IPA^(key): /ɔˈna.ɡɾu/ [ɔˈna.ɣɾu]

• Rhymes: -aɡɾu
• Hyphenation: o‧na‧gro

Noun

onagro m (plural onagros)

1. onager (Ancient Roman war machine)
2. onager (wild ass)

   Synonym: hemíono

Related terms

• (war machine) catapulta, trabuco, manganela
• (wild ass) jumento, burro, asno

Spanish

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /oˈnaɡɾo/ [oˈna.ɣ̞ɾo]

• Audio (Spain):

  (file)

• Rhymes: -aɡɾo
• Syllabification: o‧na‧gro

Noun

onagro m (plural onagros)

1. onager (wild ass)
2. onager (military engine)

Further reading

• “onagro”, in Diccionario de la lengua española [Dictionary of the Spanish Language] (in Spanish), online version 23.8, Royal Spanish Academy [Spanish: Real Academia Española], 2024 December 10