torma

Forms

torma f (plural torme)^[1] Old forms include tuòrma and the Latin-looking turma.^[2][3]

Etymology

It is inherited from Latin turma (“squadron of cavalry; troop, crowd”).^[4][5][6][1] In Rome the word was a technical term of the cavalry, first a squadron of thirty horsemen, then any troop or throng.^[4][5][7] Latin ⟨ŭ⟩ gave Italian ⟨o⟩.^[4][5]

The origin of the Latin word is uncertain.^[3][8][2] DELI calls it a loan from an unknown language.^[4] DEI thinks it probably came through Etruscan, perhaps as an adaptation of Ancient Greek τύρβη (túrbē, “disorder, crowd”) or of Latin turba (“crowd”).^[7] Nocentini and Devoto also connect it with that word, either as a related word or as a variant brought into Latin by an unidentified intermediary.^[5][9] The OLD compares Old English þrymm (“multitude, host”).^[10] Varro's explanation from the number thirty is unfounded according to Treccani.^[11]

The Latin word is continued by Romanian turmă (“flock, herd”), the Logudorese truma, Friulian torme and Neapolitan torma, and it passed into Albanian trumë.^[5][12][7]

Earliest recorded meaning

The first records are in Dante, between 1300 and 1313, both for a crowd moving together in disorder and for a herd of animals.^[4][6] In Inferno 16 three shades leave “a crowd that was passing under the rain of the bitter torment” (d’una torma che passava / sotto la pioggia de l’aspro martiro).^[2][13]

Semantic evolution

A. Mariani, quoted by DELI, notes that medieval Italian split the word into a general sense, “multitude, crowd”, and a narrower one, “herd”, and that Dante's two uses show one of each.^[4] The herd sense had a forerunner in Medieval Latin: turma iumentorum at Rieti in 765 and turma bestiarum at Frignano in 1338.^[7] The military sense, “troop of soldiers”, appears in the 14th-century Italian translation of Livy.^[4]

In poetry the word was used of abstract things, as in Poliziano's torme de’ sogni negri (“the throngs of black dreams”) and Foscolo's le torme delle cure (“the hosts of cares”).^[14][6] D. Bartoli formed tormaglia in the 17th century.^[7] The phrase a torme means in crowds, in great numbers.^[6][14][11]

Timeline

• 765 – Medieval Latin turma iumentorum “herd of beasts of burden” is recorded at Rieti.^[7]
• 1300–1313 – Dante uses torma for a crowd of souls and for a herd.^[4]
• 14th century – The Italian translation of Livy uses it for a troop of soldiers.^[4]
• 1338 – Medieval Latin turma bestiarum is recorded at Frignano.^[7]
• 17th century – D. Bartoli uses tormaglia.^[7]

Meanings

Noun

1. (historical) In ancient Rome, a squadron of thirty cavalrymen divided into three decuries.^[6][3][15]
2. (literary) A band of armed soldiers.^[6][15][14]
3. A crowd of people moving together in disorder: una torma di ragazzini all'uscita da scuola.^[6][15][14]
4. A herd of animals, especially large ones: una torma di cervi.^[6][15][14]
5. (figurative, literary) A great number of things, especially abstract ones.^[6][15][16]

Word family

• tormaglia

Related words

• turba
• turma
• Romanian turmă

Usage notes

A torme means “in crowds, in great numbers”.^[6][14][16]

References

1. ^ a b c Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
2. ^ a b c Battaglia, Salvatore; Bàrberi Squarotti, Giorgio (1961–2002), Grande dizionario della lingua italiana, 21 vols., Torino: UTET; digital ed. Accademia della Crusca
3. ^ a b c Devoto, Giacomo; Oli, Gian Carlo; Serianni, Luca; Trifone, Maurizio (2026), Nuovo Devoto–Oli: il vocabolario dell'italiano contemporaneo, digital ed., Milano: Le Monnier
4. ^ a b c d e f g h i Cortelazzo, Manlio; Zolli, Paolo (1999), Dizionario etimologico della lingua italiana, 2nd ed. by Manlio Cortelazzo and Michele A. Cortelazzo, Bologna: Zanichelli
5. ^ a b c d e Nocentini, Alberto; Parenti, Alessandro (2010), l'Etimologico: vocabolario della lingua italiana, Firenze: Le Monnier
6. ^ a b c d e f g h i j De Mauro, Tullio (ed.) (2003), Grande dizionario italiano dell'uso, CD-ROM version 2.0, Torino: UTET
7. ^ a b c d e f g h Battisti, Carlo; Alessio, Giovanni (1950–1957), Dizionario etimologico italiano, 5 vols., Firenze: Barbèra (reprint 1975), p. 3829
8. ^ Vocabolario della lingua italiana Treccani (2011), Roma: Istituto della Enciclopedia Italiana
9. ^ Devoto, Giacomo (1968), Avviamento alla etimologia italiana: dizionario etimologico, 2nd ed., Firenze: Le Monnier
10. ^ Glare, P. G. W., ed. (2012), Oxford Latin Dictionary, 2nd ed., Oxford: Oxford University Press
11. ^ a b Duro, Aldo (ed.) (1986–1994), Vocabolario della lingua italiana, Roma: Istituto della Enciclopedia Italiana; online ed. treccani.it/vocabolario (2008 copy)
12. ^ Meyer-Lübke, Wilhelm (1935), Romanisches etymologisches Wörterbuch, 3rd ed., Heidelberg: Winter
13. ^ Tommaseo, Niccolò; Bellini, Bernardo (1861–1879), Dizionario della lingua italiana, 4 vols., Torino: UTET
14. ^ a b c d e f Zingarelli, Nicola (2009), Lo Zingarelli 2010: vocabolario della lingua italiana, Bologna: Zanichelli
15. ^ a b c d e Sabatini, Francesco; Coletti, Vittorio; Manfredini, Manuela (2026), Dizionario italiano Sabatini Coletti, digital ed., Milano: Sansoni / Rizzoli Larousse
16. ^ a b Gabrielli, Aldo (2020), Grande dizionario italiano, digital ed., Milano: Hoepli