terebra

Forms

terebra f (genitive terebrae); first declension^[1]

Etymology

It is formed from Latin terō (“to rub”) + -bra.^[2][1] De Vaan lists it among the derivatives of terō and reconstructs Proto-Italic *terasro- (“drill”),^[3] which matches Ancient Greek τέρετρον (téretron, “drill”).^[3] terō goes back to Proto-Indo-European *terh₁- (“to rub”).^[3][1]

Earliest recorded meaning

De Vaan and Köbler date it from Plautus,^[3][4] and Cato uses it in his book on farming.^[5][5]

Semantic evolution

It was the ordinary word for a tool for boring holes, a drill, borer or gimlet.^[2][5] In surgery it was a trepan,^[2][5] and Vitruvius gives the name to a siege engine that bored through walls.^[2][5] Jerome has a neuter form terebrum.^[5]

Medieval Latin kept the sense “drill”.^[6] Italian, Spanish and Portuguese have it as a learned borrowing.^[1]

Timeline

• c. 250–184 BC – Plautus uses the word.^[3][4]
• 234–149 BC – Cato uses it in his book on farming.^[5][4]
• c. 84–c. 25 BC – Vitruvius describes a siege engine called terebra.^[2][5][4]
• 14–37 AD – Celsus uses it for the surgical trepan.^[5][4]

Meanings

Noun

1. A tool for boring holes, a drill, auger or gimlet.^[2][5]
2. (surgery) A trepan.^[2][5]
3. A siege engine that bored through walls.^[2][5]

Word family

• terebrō
• terebrum

References

1. ^ a b c d e f Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
2. ^ a b c d e f g h Glare, P. G. W., ed. (2012), Oxford Latin Dictionary, 2nd ed., Oxford: Oxford University Press
3. ^ 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
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 d e f g h i j k l Lewis, Charlton T.; Short, Charles (1879), A Latin Dictionary, Oxford: Clarendon Press
6. ^ Latham, R. E., D. R. Howlett, R. K. Ashdowne, et al. (1975–2013), Dictionary of Medieval Latin from British Sources, London: British Academy / Oxford University Press