temo

Pronunciation

• IPA (Classical): [ˈteː.moː]^[1]
• IPA (Ecclesiastical): [ˈtɛː.mo]^[1]

Forms

tēmō m (genitive tēmōnis); third declension^[1]

Etymology

Its origin is disputed.^[2] Because of Old High German dīhsala (“pole”) and Old English þīxl (“pole”), from Germanic *þenχslō-, Sommer reconstructed *tenksmō, and the OLD agrees.^[2][3] Meiser posits *tenghsmō-, from Proto-Indo-European *tengʰ- (“to pull”), and Eichner *tensmō, from *tens- “to pull”; several Indo-European roots meaning “to pull” would fit the sounds.^[2][4] Lewis and Short connected texō.^[5] Varro derived it from teneō, because it holds yoke and cart together.^[6]

Earliest recorded meaning

De Vaan dates it from Ennius, who speaks of the Pole in the sky.^[2][3] Köbler dates Ennius 204–169 BC.^[4]

Semantic evolution

It meant the pole or yoke beam of a cart, chariot or plough, as in Virgil and Ovid.^[3][7] In astronomy it was the pole of the Wain, the constellation Ursa Major, as in Ennius, Cicero's Aratus and Ovid's Bootes.^[3] Juvenal uses it of a chariot.^[7] Late Roman law had a different temō, a tax paid instead of furnishing recruits.^[5][7]

In Medieval Latin it was also the tiller or helm of a ship, and it survives in French timon, Italian timone and Spanish timón.^[8][1]

Timeline

• 204–169 BC – Ennius speaks of the Pole in the sky.^[3][4]
• 70–19 BC – Virgil uses it of a plough.^[7][4]
• 438 AD – The Theodosian Code uses temō of a recruiting tax.^[5][4]
• Middle Ages – It is used of a ship's tiller.^[8]

Meanings

Noun

1. The pole or beam of a cart, chariot or plough.^[3]
2. (astronomy) The pole of the Wain, Ursa Major.^[3]
3. A chariot.^[7]
4. (Medieval Latin) The tiller, helm.^[8]

Related words

• tendō
• teneō

References

1. ^ a b c d Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
2. ^ a b c d 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 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 c Lewis, Charlton T.; Short, Charles (1879), A Latin Dictionary, Oxford: Clarendon Press
6. ^ Marcus Terentius Varro, De lingua Latina (text of The Latin Library; book and paragraph numbers as there).
7. ^ a b c d e Gaffiot, Félix (2016), Dictionnaire latin-français, new ed. by Gérard Gréco et al. (Gaffiot 2016), online ed.
8. ^ a b c Niermeyer, J. F. (1976), Mediae Latinitatis Lexicon Minus, Leiden: Brill