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teres

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Etymology and origin of the Latin word teres

Confidence
Established
Formation
Derivation
First attested
96–55 BC, Lucretius
Ultimate origin
Proto-Indo-European (*terh₁-)

Pronunciation

  • Classical: [ˈtɛ.rɛs][1]
  • Ecclesiastical: [ˈtɛː.res][1]

Forms

teres (genitive teretis, comparative teretior); third-declension one-termination adjective[1] The ablative singular is teretī and the neuter plural teretia; the comparative is perhaps found only in Gellius.[2]

Etymology

It is formed from terō (“to rub”) with the suffix ⟨-es⟩, after the model of hebes.[2] De Vaan lists it under that verb, which he traces to Proto-Italic *tera- and Proto-Indo-European *terh₁- (“to rub”).[3] The OLD compares Ancient Greek κυκλοτερής (kukloterḗs, “rounded like a circle”).[2] Festus defines it as rounded along its length, like the poles nature provides.[4]

Earliest recorded meaning

De Vaan dates it from Lucretius.[3] Cicero's Aratea has the head of the Dragon turned back on a rounded neck, and Catullus a tomb heaped up into a rounded mound.[2][5]

Semantic evolution

It means smooth and rounded, without angles, especially of cylindrical things: Caesar has rounded stakes, Columella a rounded pole.[2][4] It is used of rounded parts of the body, and of fabrics rounded into a bulge, as in Catullus' band that bound a woman's breasts.[2] Of style or tone it is smooth and well rounded: Cicero describes a speech that is full yet smooth, and it is also used of an ear sensitive to such style.[2] Lewis & Short give rotundus as a synonym.[4]

Timeline

  • 96–55 BC – Lucretius.[3][5]
  • 81–43 BC – Cicero of a rounded neck and of smooth speech.[2][5]
  • 81/79–52/50 BC – Catullus of a rounded mound and of a band.[2][5]
  • c. 50 BC – Caesar of rounded stakes.[4][5]

Meanings

Adjective

  1. Smooth and rounded, without angles; cylindrical.[2][4][1]
  2. Of parts of the body, rounded, shapely; of fabrics, rounded into a bulge.[2]
  3. Of style or tone, smooth, well rounded, polished.[2][1]

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 k l Glare, P. G. W., ed. (2012), Oxford Latin Dictionary, 2nd ed., Oxford: Oxford University Press
  3. ^ 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
  4. ^ a b c d e Lewis, Charlton T.; Short, Charles (1879), A Latin Dictionary, Oxford: Clarendon Press
  5. ^ a b c d e Köbler, Gerhard (2010), Lateinisches Abkunfts- und Wirkungswörterbuch für Altertum und Mittelalter, online ed., koeblergerhard.de
Cite this entry

“Teres.” Etymologically, 20 Oct. 2026, etymologically.com/la/teres. Accessed 20 Oct. 2026.

Last edited on . ·