Etymograph

English

anagogics

Anagogics comes from Ancient Greek ἀναγωγή ‘lifting up of the soul’, from ἀνάγω ‘to lead up’, and ultimately from Proto-Indo-European *h₂eǵ- ‘to drive’.

  1. Proto-Indo-Europeanc. 4500–2500 BCE*h₂eǵ-1‘to drive’reconstructed
  2. Proto-Indo-Europeanc. 4500–2500 BCE*h₂éǵeti1‘to be driving’reconstructed
  3. Proto-Hellenicc. 2200–1600 BCE*ágō1‘to lead, to guide’reconstructed
  4. Ancient Greekc. 800–300 BCEἄγω2‘to lead’
  5. Ancient Greekc. 800–300 BCEἀνάγω3anágō‘to lead up’
  6. Ancient Greekc. 800–300 BCEἀναγωγή4anagōgḗ‘lifting up of the soul’
  7. Ancient Greekc. 800–300 BCEἀναγωγικός4anagōgikós
  8. Englishearliest quotation 1675anagogics4

attested reconstructed ? uncertain or disputed deepest recorded ancestor

  1. 1 Wiktionary, Ancient Greek ἄγω
  2. 2 Wiktionary, Ancient Greek ἀνάγω
  3. 3 Wiktionary, Ancient Greek ἀναγωγή
  4. 4 Wiktionary, English anagogics
  5. Earliest quotation in Wiktionary’s entry: 1675, Lancelot Addison: “As is to be seen Novella 146, where the…”.

Lineage

  1. Proto-Indo-Europeanc. 4500–2500 BCE*h₂eǵ-Wiktionary, Ancient Greek ἄγω‘to drive’reconstructed
  2. Proto-Indo-Europeanc. 4500–2500 BCE*h₂éǵetiWiktionary, Ancient Greek ἄγω‘to be driving’reconstructed
  3. Proto-Hellenicc. 2200–1600 BCE*ágōWiktionary, Ancient Greek ἄγω‘to lead, to guide’reconstructed
  4. Ancient Greekc. 800–300 BCEἄγωWiktionary, Ancient Greek ἀνάγω‘to lead’
  5. Ancient Greekc. 800–300 BCEἀνάγωWiktionary, Ancient Greek ἀναγωγήanágō‘to lead up’
  6. Ancient Greekc. 800–300 BCEἀναγωγήWiktionary, English anagogicsanagōgḗ‘lifting up of the soul’
  7. Ancient Greekc. 800–300 BCEἀναγωγικόςWiktionary, English anagogicsanagōgikós
  8. Englishearliest quotation 1675anagogicsWiktionary, English anagogics. Earliest quotation in Wiktionary’s entry: 1675, Lancelot Addison: “As is to be seen Novella 146, where the…”

Linked words

through Proto-Indo-European *h₂eǵ- ‘to drive’

suggest, reaction, register, actively, essay, transaction, acre, gesture, radioactive, digest, congestion, inactive, belligerent, gestation, ingestion, retroactive, agrarian, progesterone, hyperactivity, ingest, unambiguous, reagent, ambiguously, agitate, samaj, agger, gerund, gestion, 127 more

through Proto-Indo-European *h₂éǵeti ‘to be driving’

act, action, active, activity, actual, agency, actor, agent, agenda, activate, ambiguous, squat, ambiguity, assay, agile, agility, agitation, radium, actuator, cogent, actuation, inexact, exigent, actuate, 110 more

through Proto-Hellenic *ágō ‘to lead, to guide’

agony, antagonist, agonist, antagonism, axiomatic, antagonize, agonize, 21 more

through Ancient Greek ἄγω ‘to lead’

strategy, axiom, stratagem, glucagon, 15 more

Today it means

noun Mystical interpretations or studies, especially of the Scriptures.

Sources

Sources: Wiktionary, “anagogics”; the older steps come from the Wiktionary entries for Ancient Greek ἄγω, Ancient Greek ἀνάγω, Ancient Greek ἀναγωγή. By Wiktionary contributors, CC BY-SA 4.0, via kaikki.org (dump of Oct 3 2026); text adapted and restructured. Language periods are conventional ranges, not dates for this word. License.

Etymograph / Proto-Indo-European *h₂eǵ- / anagogics

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