Etymologically
Log in

temero

History Permalink

Etymology and origin of the Latin word temero

Confidence
Established
Formation
Derivation
First attested
70–19 BC, Virgil
Ultimate origin
Proto-Indo-European (*temH-os-)

Pronunciation

  • Classical: [ˈtɛ.mɛ.roː][1]
  • Ecclesiastical: [ˈtɛː.me.ro][1]

Forms

temerō (present infinitive temerāre, perfect active temerāvī, supine temerātum); first conjugation[1]

Etymology

It is formed from temere (“rashly, blindly”) with the verbal suffix -ō, properly to treat rashly.[2][1][3] De Vaan explains temere as a fossilized locative of a noun meaning “darkness”, from Proto-Italic *temesi and Proto-Indo-European *temH-os- (“darkness”), comparing Sanskrit तमस् (támas-, “darkness”) and Lithuanian tamsà (“darkness”).[4] Festus derived it from temeritās.[3]

Earliest recorded meaning

De Vaan dates it from Virgil,[4] whose Aeneid speaks of avenging the temples of Minerva that were violated.[2][5]

Semantic evolution

It is to violate or desecrate anything protected by religion, and especially to violate sexually: Ovid has the violated Auge and the violation of chaste marriage beds.[2] Lucan uses it of shores violated by the Argo, a place where it was not natural to go.[2] It is also to pollute or defile, as of rivers poisoned in Ovid.[2] Lewis & Short find it mostly in poetry and sometimes in prose after Augustus.[3] Wiktionary adds to dishonour, disgrace.[1]

Timeline

  • 70–19 BC – Virgil of violated temples.[2][4][5]
  • 43 BC–18 AD – Ovid of sexual violation and of polluted rivers.[2][5]
  • 39–65 AD – Lucan of violated shores.[2][5]

Meanings

Verb

  1. To violate, desecrate, profane.[2][3][1]
  2. To violate sexually; to violate (a marriage).[2]
  3. To violate (a place) by going where one should not.[2]
  4. To pollute, defile; to dishonour.[2][1]

Word family

References

  1. ^ a b c d e f g Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
  2. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l Glare, P. G. W., ed. (2012), Oxford Latin Dictionary, 2nd ed., Oxford: Oxford University Press
  3. ^ a b c d Lewis, Charlton T.; Short, Charles (1879), A Latin Dictionary, Oxford: Clarendon Press
  4. ^ a b c 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 Köbler, Gerhard (2010), Lateinisches Abkunfts- und Wirkungswörterbuch für Altertum und Mittelalter, online ed., koeblergerhard.de
Cite this entry

“Temero.” Etymologically, 20 Oct. 2026, etymologically.com/la/temero. Accessed 20 Oct. 2026.

Last edited on . ·