Etymologically
Log in

taurus

This is the current revision of this entry, as edited by bogdan on 16 October 2026 at 02:35. This address is a permanent link to this version.
Changes in this edit History

Pronunciation

  • IPA (Classical): [ˈtau̯.rʊs][1]
  • IPA (Ecclesiastical): [ˈtaːu̯.rus][1]

Forms

taurus m (genitive taurī); second declension[1]

Etymology

It is inherited from Proto-Italic *tauro- (“bull”), usually traced to Proto-Indo-European *táwros (“bull”), which is probably from a non-Indo-European source.[2][1] Cognate with Umbrian turuf (“bulls”), Old Irish tarb (“bull”), Welsh tarw (“bull”), Ancient Greek ταῦρος (taûros, “bull”) and Lithuanian taũras (“aurochs”).[2][3] De Vaan notes that Latin does not show the change of *-aur- to *-arw- seen in parvus, which might mean that it is a later loanword.[2]

Earliest recorded meaning

De Vaan dates it from Plautus.[2] Ennius speaks of taming the strength of bulls.[3] Köbler dates Plautus c. 250–184 BC.[4]

Semantic evolution

It was a bull, often as a sacrificial victim, as when Cicero tells of a bull being sacrificed.[3] It was also the constellation Taurus, a kind of beetle, a bird that bellows like an ox, perhaps the bittern, and the bronze bull of Phalaris.[3][5] Taurus was a Roman cognomen, as of Statilius Taurus.[3]

The name of the mountain range Taurus in Asia Minor is Greek and only accidentally the same.[3][4] In medieval Britain lībertās taurī was a manor's right to let a bull roam.[6] English Taurus, the zodiac sign, goes back to it.[7] It survives in Italian toro, French taureau and Spanish toro.[1]

Timeline

  • c. 250–184 BC – Plautus uses it.[2][4]
  • 204–169 BC – Ennius speaks of taming the strength of bulls.[3][4]
  • 116–27 BC – Varro dates the first day of summer by the Bull.[3][4]
  • Middle English – Taur is used of the zodiac sign.[7]

Meanings

Noun

  1. A bull.[3]
  2. The constellation Taurus.[3]
  3. A kind of beetle; a bird, perhaps the bittern.[3]
  4. The bronze bull of Phalaris.[5]

Word family

  • taura
  • taurārius
  • taureus
  • tauricornis
  • taurifer
  • taurifōrmis
  • taurigenus
  • taurīnus
  • taurulus

References

  1. ^ a b c d e Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
  2. ^ a b c d e de Vaan, Michiel (2008), Etymological Dictionary of Latin and the other Italic Languages, Leiden Indo-European Etymological Dictionary Series 7, Leiden; Boston: Brill
  3. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k Glare, P. G. W., ed. (2012), Oxford Latin Dictionary, 2nd ed., Oxford: Oxford University Press
  4. ^ a b c d e Köbler, Gerhard (2010), Lateinisches Abkunfts- und Wirkungswörterbuch für Altertum und Mittelalter, online ed., koeblergerhard.de
  5. ^ a b Gaffiot, Félix (2016), Dictionnaire latin-français, new ed. by Gérard Gréco et al. (Gaffiot 2016), online ed.
  6. ^ Latham, R. E., D. R. Howlett, R. K. Ashdowne, et al. (1975–2013), Dictionary of Medieval Latin from British Sources, London: British Academy / Oxford University Press
  7. ^ a b Harper, Douglas. Online Etymology Dictionary, https://www.etymonline.com