tego

Pronunciation

• IPA (Classical): [ˈtɛ.ɡoː]^[1]
• IPA (Ecclesiastical): [ˈtɛː.ɡo]^[1]

Forms

tegō (present infinitive tegere, perfect active tēxī, supine tēctum); third conjugation^[1]

Etymology

It is inherited from Proto-Italic *teg-e/o- (“to cover”), inherited from Proto-Indo-European *(s)teg-e/o- (“to cover”).^[2][1] From the same root come toga, originally “covering”, and tēgula “tile”; the long vowel of tēctum is due to Lachmann's law.^[2]

Cognate with Old Irish teg (“house”), Ancient Greek στέγω (stégō, “to cover, keep off”), Lithuanian stógas (“roof”), Sanskrit स्थगति (sthágati, “covers”) and Old Norse þak (“roof”).^[2][3][4]

Earliest recorded meaning

It is found from Plautus onwards,^[2] who jokes that a man “covers himself entirely with his head”, like a mushroom.^[3]

Semantic evolution

It meant to cover, to roof over, as Cicero's roof over a party wall, and to clothe, as Plautus' “I have nothing to cover my back”.^[3] Shields and defences were said to cover, that is, protect, soldiers, and figuratively it meant to protect, as Cicero's laws “protected by the authority of famous men”.^[3]

It also meant to hide or conceal, as Ennius' ambushers lying hidden.^[3] From it came tēctum “roof, house” and tegula, the source of English tile.^[2][5] English protect comes from its compound protegere.^[5]

Timeline

• c. 250–184 BC – Plautus uses it for covering and clothing.^[3][6]
• 204–169 BC – Ennius uses it for hiding.^[3][6]
• 81–43 BC – Cicero uses it for roofing and for protecting laws.^[3][6]
• c. 50 BC – Caesar uses it of huts roofed with straw.^[7][6]
• early 15th century – English protect is first recorded.^[5]

Meanings

Verb

1. To cover.^[3][4]
2. To roof over.^[3]
3. To clothe.^[3][1]
4. To shield, protect.^[3][1]
5. To hide, conceal.^[3][1]

Word family

• circumtegō
• contegō
• dētegō
• distectus
• intectus
• integō
• obtegō
• pertegō
• praetegō
• prōtegō
• retegō
• sēmitectus

Related words

• toga
• tugurium
• tēctum
• tēgula
• English protect
• English tile
• English thatch

References

1. ^ a b c d e f g 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 l m Glare, P. G. W., ed. (2012), Oxford Latin Dictionary, 2nd ed., Oxford: Oxford University Press
4. ^ a b Lewis, Charlton T.; Short, Charles (1879), A Latin Dictionary, Oxford: Clarendon Press
5. ^ a b c Harper, Douglas. Online Etymology Dictionary, https://www.etymonline.com
6. ^ a b c d Köbler, Gerhard (2010), Lateinisches Abkunfts- und Wirkungswörterbuch für Altertum und Mittelalter, online ed., koeblergerhard.de
7. ^ Gaffiot, Félix (2016), Dictionnaire latin-français, new ed. by Gérard Gréco et al. (Gaffiot 2016), online ed.