torpe

Forms

torpe m or f (masculine and feminine plural torpes)^[1]

Etymology

It is inherited from Latin turpis (“ugly, deformed; base, shameful”).^[2][3][4][1] Among the Romance languages it survives only in Spanish and Portuguese torpe.^[2][5] The sense “clumsy, slow” is an early Spanish innovation, already in Berceo beside the Latin sense.^[2][3] Bénaben describes it as a weakening of the meaning.^[6] Covarrubias derived the sense “awkward” from torpidus (“numb”), and only “foul, vicious” from the Latin word for “ugly”.^[7] Nebrija had translated it with that adjective and with torpēns.^[2] Wiktionary notes that it is not related to English torpid.^[1]

The origin of the Latin word is uncertain.^[8][1] Walde–Hofmann and Pokorny compared Sanskrit त्रपते (trapate, “to be ashamed”), from Proto-Indo-European *trep- (“to turn”), taking the Latin word as “turning away, repelling”; de Vaan finds this meaning too constructed and would sooner compare torpeō (“to be numb, stiff”), though that too does not explain the sense smoothly.^[8][1]

Earliest recorded meaning

The first record is in the Cantar de mio Cid (c. 1140, known from a 14th-century copy): ¡mucho·l' tengo por torpe qui non conosce la verdad! “I take him for a great fool who does not see the truth”.^[9][3] Menéndez Pidal glosses it there as “dull, rude”.^[10]

Semantic evolution

Berceo uses the word both for the modern “clumsy, slow-witted” and for the Latin “base, wretched”.^[2][11] In Alfonso X's prose it already has four senses: “clumsy” and “slow to understand” in the Picatrix (1256), and “lewd” and “shameful” in the General Estoria.^[12] The Diccionario de Autoridades lists “slow and heavy in movement”, “dull”, “lewd” and “ignominious”; the Academy added “unskilful” in 1869 and “ugly, coarse” in 1899.^[13][14][15] A text from Santo Domingo (1549) calls the animal named perico ligero in Tierra Firme the most torpe in the world.^[16] In Argentina Garzón recorded the senses “rough, heavy-handed” and “disrespectful” (1910).^[17]

The derivatives are old: torpedad in the Libro de Alexandre, torpeza from 1490 and entorpecer from 1495.^[2][3] The learned turpitud and deturpar continue the Latin word directly.^[2]

Timeline

• c. 1140 – first record, in the Cantar de mio Cid.^[9][3]
• 1220–1250 – the sense “clumsy” in Berceo.^[3][2]
• 1256 – the Picatrix uses it for “clumsy” and “dull”.^[12]
• c. 1275 – the General Estoria uses it for “lewd” and “shameful”.^[12]
• 1490 – torpeza is first recorded.^[3]
• 1611 – Covarrubias derives the two senses from different Latin words.^[7]
• 1739 – the Diccionario de Autoridades gives four senses.^[13]
• 1899 – the Academy adds “ugly, coarse”.^[15]

Meanings

Adjective

1. Moving with difficulty; slow and heavy: Con la escayola andaba muy torpe.^[4][18]
2. Clumsy, awkward, lacking skill.^[4][1]
3. Slow to understand, dull: Es torpe para los idiomas.^[4][18]
4. Lewd, indecent.^[4][12]
5. Shameful, ignominious, infamous.^[4][12]
6. Ugly, coarse, lacking ornament.^[4][18]

Noun

1. A clumsy or dull person, a klutz.^[1][18]

Word family

• torpeza
• entorpecer
• torpemente

Related words

• turpitud
• deturpar
• Latin turpis
• Portuguese torpe

References

1. ^ a b c d e f g h Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
2. ^ a b c d e f g h Corominas, Joan; Pascual, José A. (1980–1991), Diccionario crítico etimológico castellano e hispánico, 6 vols., Madrid: Gredos, p. 5, 559
3. ^ a b c d e f g Corominas, Joan (1973), Breve diccionario etimológico de la lengua castellana, 3rd ed., Madrid: Gredos, p. s.v. torpe
4. ^ a b c d e f g Real Academia Española; Asociación de Academias de la Lengua Española (2014–), Diccionario de la lengua española, 23rd ed., online version 23.8, https://dle.rae.es, p. s.v. torpe
5. ^ Meyer-Lübke, Wilhelm (1935), Romanisches etymologisches Wörterbuch, 3rd ed., Heidelberg: Winter, p. s.v. turpis
6. ^ Bénaben, Michel (2000), Dictionnaire étymologique de l'espagnol, Paris: Ellipses, p. s.v. torpe
7. ^ a b Covarrubias Orozco, Sebastián de (1611), Tesoro de la lengua castellana o española, Madrid: Luis Sánchez (Biblioteca Wordkers transcription, CC BY 4.0), p. 1339
8. ^ a b de Vaan, Michiel (2008), Etymological Dictionary of Latin and the other Italic Languages, Leiden Indo-European Etymological Dictionary Series 7, Leiden; Boston: Brill, p. s.v. turpis
9. ^ a b Real Academia Española (2013–), Corpus del Diccionario histórico de la lengua española (CDH), version 3.1, https://apps.rae.es/CNDHE, p. s.v. torpe
10. ^ Menéndez Pidal, Ramón (1908–1911), Cantar de Mio Cid: texto, gramática y vocabulario, 3 vols., Madrid: Bailly-Baillière, p. s.v. torpe
11. ^ Lanchetas, Rufino (1900), Gramática y vocabulario de las obras de Gonzalo de Berceo, Madrid: Sucesores de Rivadeneyra, p. s.v. torpe
12. ^ a b c d e Kasten, Lloyd A.; Nitti, John J.; Gago Jover, Francisco (2002–), Diccionario de la prosa castellana del Rey Alfonso X, New York: Hispanic Seminary of Medieval Studies (electronic edition 2024), p. s.v. torpe
13. ^ a b Real Academia Española (1726–1739), Diccionario de la lengua castellana (Diccionario de Autoridades), 6 vols., Madrid: Francisco del Hierro, p. 6, 305
14. ^ Real Academia Española (1869), Diccionario de la lengua castellana, 11th ed., Madrid: Imprenta de Don Manuel Rivadeneyra, p. 755
15. ^ a b Real Academia Española (1899), Diccionario de la lengua castellana, 13th ed., Madrid: Imprenta de los Sres. Hernando y Compañía, p. 971
16. ^ Boyd-Bowman, Peter (2003), Léxico hispanoamericano 1493–1993, ed. Ray Harris-Northall and John J. Nitti, New York: Hispanic Seminary of Medieval Studies, p. s.v. torpe
17. ^ Garzón, Tobías (1910), Diccionario argentino, Barcelona: Imprenta Elzeviriana de Borrás y Mestres, p. 479
18. ^ a b c d Moliner, María (2007), Diccionario de uso del español, 3rd ed., Madrid: Gredos, p. s.v. torpe