[L. ægis, a. Gr. αἰγίς, of uncert. etym.; see Liddell and Scott, s.v.]
1. A shield, or defensive armor; applied in ancient mythology to that of Jupiter or Minerva.
1704. Rowe, Ulysses, III. i. 1128. She [Pallas] shakes her dreadful Ægis from the Clouds.
1760. Home, Siege of Aquileia, IV. His adamantine ægis Jove extends.
1812. Byron, Ch. Harold, II. xiv. Where was thine Ægis, Pallas, that appalled Stern Alaric?
2. fig. A protection, or impregnable defence.
1793. Holcroft, Lavater’s Physiog., xxix. 137. Feeling is the ægis of enthusiasts and fools.
1836. Thirlwall, Greece, III. xviii. 83. They were sheltered by the ægis of the laws.
1865. Lecky, Rationalism (1878), II. 323. He cast over them the ægis of his own mighty name.
3. Attrib. and Comb., ægis-bearing, ægis-orb.
1793. Wordsworth, Even. Walk, 69. The broadening sun appears; A long blue bar its ægis orb divides.
1877. Bryant, Odyss., V. 128. The purposes Of Ægis-bearing Jove.
