Etymologically
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tepeo

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Pronunciation

  • Classical: [ˈtɛ.pe.oː][1]
  • Ecclesiastical: [ˈtɛː.pe.o][1]

Forms

tepeō (present infinitive tepēre, perfect active tepuī); second conjugation, no passive, no supine stem[1]

Etymology

It is inherited from Proto-Italic *tep-ē- (“to be warm”), inherited from Proto-Indo-European *t(e)p-eh₁- (“to be warm”).[2] De Vaan notes that the verb may be old, but it has no direct cognates in the other Indo-European languages, except perhaps Albanian ftoh (“to cool down”).[2] The root is widespread: cognate with Old Irish té (“hot”), Welsh tes (“heat”) and Sanskrit तपति (tápati, “to heat, be hot”).[2][3] Latin has only productive derivatives of it, such as tepidus and tepor.[2]

Earliest recorded meaning

De Vaan dates it from Cato.[2] Cato says that a jar should be heated less than for pitching: it is enough that it be warm.[3][4]

Semantic evolution

It means to be moderately warm or lukewarm;[5][3] Lewis & Short call it rare and note that Cicero does not use it.[5][3] Virgil applies it to a body still warm with life.[3] Ovid uses it of the warmth of love, and also of being lukewarm in one's feelings.[3][1] Quintilian says that an appeal to emotion falls flat if it has no effect.[3] Church Latin glosses it to be tepid or lukewarm.[6]

Timeline

  • 234–149 BC – Cato of a warmed jar.[3][2][4]
  • 70–19 BC – Virgil of a body still warm.[3][4]
  • 43 BC–18 AD – Ovid of a heart warm with love.[3][4]
  • c. 35–95/96 AD – Quintilian of an appeal that falls flat.[3][4]

Meanings

Verb

  1. To be moderately warm, lukewarm, tepid; to have the warmth of a living body.[3][5][1][6]
  2. To glow with love.[3][1]
  3. To be lukewarm in one's feelings, indifferent; of efforts, to lack force, fall flat.[3][1]

Word family

  • tepidārius
  • tepidē
  • tepidō
  • tepōrātus
  • English tepid

References

  1. ^ a b c d e f g Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
  2. ^ a b c d e f 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 n 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. ^ a b Stelten, Leo F. (1995), Dictionary of Ecclesiastical Latin, Peabody, Mass.: Hendrickson