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tentigo

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Etymology and origin of the Latin word tentigo

Confidence
Established
Formation
Derivation
First attested
65–8 BC Horace More words from the 1st century BC
Ultimate origin
Latin tendō
Etymology tree
inherited borrowed derived
Latin tēnsus
Italian teso
English tense
Latin tentīgō

Pronunciation

  • Classical: [tɛnˈtiː.ɡoː][1]
  • Ecclesiastical: [tenˈtiː.ɡo][1]

Forms

tentīgō f (genitive tentīginis); third declension[1]

Etymology

It is formed from Latin tēnsus + -īgō,[2] tēnsus being the past participle of tendō (“to stretch”).[2][1][3]

Earliest recorded meaning

It first appears in Horace's Satires, of sexual swelling that a ready slave girl can relieve.[2][3]

Semantic evolution

The OLD defines it as immoderate sexual tumescence, and Lewis and Short as tension and lust.[2][4] After Horace it appears in the Priapea, in Martial and in Juvenal.[2][4]

Timeline

  • 65–8 BC – Horace uses it in the Satires.[2][3]
  • 1st century AD – The Priapea use it.[2][3]
  • 40–102/103 AD – Martial uses it.[2][3]
  • c. 67–c. 127 AD – Juvenal uses it.[2][3]

Meanings

Noun

  1. Excessive sexual tumescence; erection.[2][1]
  2. Lust, lecherousness.[4]

References

  1. ^ a b c d e 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 d e f Köbler, Gerhard (2010), Lateinisches Abkunfts- und Wirkungswörterbuch für Altertum und Mittelalter, online ed., koeblergerhard.de
  4. ^ a b c Lewis, Charlton T.; Short, Charles (1879), A Latin Dictionary, Oxford: Clarendon Press
Cite this entry

“Tentigo.” Etymologically, 13 Nov. 2026, etymologically.com/la/tentigo. Accessed 13 Nov. 2026.

Last edited on . ·