Etymologically
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tergeo

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Pronunciation

  • IPA (Classical): [ˈtɛr.ɡe.oː][1]
  • IPA (Ecclesiastical): [ˈtɛr.d͡ʒe.o][1]

Forms

tergeō (present infinitive tergēre, perfect active tersī, supine tersum); second conjugation[1]

Etymology

Its origin is uncertain.[2][1][3] Within Italic, mantēle “towel” comes from *manu-terg-slo- “hand-wiper”, and Umbrian mantraklu (“towel?”) may be related.[2][3] A link with Sanskrit तृंहति (tr̥ṃhati, “crushes”) from *(s)terǵʰ- is uncertain, since that root may have had /l/.[2] Both a second-conjugation tergēre and a third-conjugation tergere are found, the first being commoner.[3][2]

Earliest recorded meaning

De Vaan dates it from Plautus, whose pimp orders everything to be found ready, swept, sprinkled and wiped.[2][3] Köbler dates Plautus c. 250–184 BC.[4]

Semantic evolution

It meant to rub clean, wipe or polish, as furniture and weapons, and to wipe off or away, as Ovid's Hymen wiping thick balm from his hair.[3] It also meant to rub against, stimulate, as Horace's peacock that tickles the palate better than a hen.[3] Cicero speaks of slaves quī tergent, who wipe and polish.[5]

Its participle tersus meant “clean, neat”, and of style “terse, polished”, the source of English terse.[1] Dētergēre “to wipe away” gave English detergent in the 1610s.[6]

Timeline

  • c. 250–184 BC – Plautus orders everything wiped clean.[3][4]
  • 81–43 BC – Cicero speaks of slaves who wipe and polish.[5][4]
  • 65–8 BC – Horace speaks of tickling the palate.[3][4]
  • 1610s – English detergent is recorded.[6]

Meanings

Verb

  1. To wipe, rub clean, polish.[3]
  2. To wipe off, wipe away.[3]
  3. To rub against; to stimulate (the palate).[3]

Word family

  • abstergeō
  • circumtergeō
  • dētergeō
  • extergeō
  • pertergeō
  • retergeō
  • tersus
  • facitergium
  • manutergium
  • mantēle
  • mantēlium
  • tersōrium
  • English detergent
  • English terse

References

  1. ^ a b c d e Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
  2. ^ 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
  3. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k Glare, P. G. W., ed. (2012), Oxford Latin Dictionary, 2nd ed., Oxford: Oxford University Press
  4. ^ a b c d Köbler, Gerhard (2010), Lateinisches Abkunfts- und Wirkungswörterbuch für Altertum und Mittelalter, online ed., koeblergerhard.de
  5. ^ a b Gaffiot, Félix (2016), Dictionnaire latin-français, new ed. by Gérard Gréco et al. (Gaffiot 2016), online ed.
  6. ^ a b Harper, Douglas. Online Etymology Dictionary, https://www.etymonline.com