Etymologically
Log in

conturbo

History Permalink

Etymology and origin of the Latin word conturbo

Confidence
Established
Formation
Derivation
First attested
c. 250–184 BC, Plautus
Ultimate origin
Latin (turba)
Etymology tree
inherited borrowed derived
Latin turbo
Latin exturbo
Latin conturbo
Latin disturbo
Latin perturbo
Latin perturbatus
Latin perturbatio
Latin deturbo

Pronunciation

  • Classical: [kɔnˈtʊr.boː][1]
  • Ecclesiastical: [konˈtur.bo][1]

Forms

conturbō (present infinitive conturbāre, perfect active conturbāvī, supine conturbātum); first conjugation[1]

Etymology

It is from Latin con- + turbō (“to disturb”).[2][1][3] The verb turbō is formed from turba (“commotion, crowd”), whose origin is uncertain.[1][4]

Earliest recorded meaning

The Thesaurus finds it from Plautus on,[3] whose Casina jokes that two people “will mix up their feet”, that is, sleep together.[2]

Semantic evolution

It is to mix up, confound or throw into disorder, also of an organ of the body put out of order.[2][5] Lewis & Short note that it is most frequent in Lucretius.[5] Of people it is to dismay or perturb, as Cicero's “what is it? am I upsetting you?”[2] Used absolutely it is a business term, to go bankrupt or default, as in Cicero's letters.[2][1]

Church Latin glosses it “disturb, trouble, disquiet, vex, confuse”.[6]

Timeline

  • c. 250–184 BC – Plautus of mixing up.[2][3][7]
  • 96–55 BC – Lucretius, who uses it most.[5][7]
  • 81–43 BC – Cicero of dismay and of bankruptcy.[2][7]

Meanings

Verb

  1. To confuse, confound, throw into disorder.[2][5][1]
  2. To dismay, disturb, disquiet.[2][1]
  3. To go bankrupt, default.[2][1]

Word family

  • conturbātiō
  • conturbātor

References

  1. ^ a b c d e f g h i Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
  2. ^ a b c d e f g h i j Glare, P. G. W., ed. (2012), Oxford Latin Dictionary, 2nd ed., Oxford: Oxford University Press
  3. ^ a b c Thesaurus linguae Latinae (1900–), Leipzig: Teubner; Berlin: De Gruyter; open-access ed., Munich: Bayerische Akademie der Wissenschaften
  4. ^ de Vaan, Michiel (2008), Etymological Dictionary of Latin and the other Italic Languages, Leiden Indo-European Etymological Dictionary Series 7, Leiden; Boston: Brill
  5. ^ a b c d Lewis, Charlton T.; Short, Charles (1879), A Latin Dictionary, Oxford: Clarendon Press
  6. ^ Stelten, Leo F. (1995), Dictionary of Ecclesiastical Latin, Peabody, Mass.: Hendrickson
  7. ^ a b c Köbler, Gerhard (2010), Lateinisches Abkunfts- und Wirkungswörterbuch für Altertum und Mittelalter, online ed., koeblergerhard.de
Cite this entry

“Conturbo.” Etymologically, 19 Oct. 2026, etymologically.com/la/conturbo. Accessed 20 Oct. 2026.

Last edited on . ·