tero

Pronunciation

• IPA (Classical): [ˈtɛ.roː]^[1]
• IPA (Ecclesiastical): [ˈtɛː.ro]^[1]

Forms

terō (present infinitive terere, perfect active trīvī, supine trītum); third conjugation^[1] Catullus has the contracted perfect trīstī.^[2][3]

Etymology

It is inherited from Proto-Italic *tera-, from Proto-Indo-European *terh₁- (“to rub”), with a present stem isolated in Indo-European; the /ī/ of the perfect points to an old athematic present *treh₁-i-.^[4][1] Cognate with Ancient Greek τείρω (teírō, “to wear out”), Ancient Greek τρίβω (tríbō, “to rub”), Lithuanian tìrti (“to investigate”) and Old Church Slavonic трѣти (trěti, “to rub”).^[4][2]

Earliest recorded meaning

Plautus uses it.^[4] Köbler dates Plautus c. 250–184 BC.^[5]

Semantic evolution

In Classical Latin it was to rub, as Terence's rubbing the eyes and Pliny's rubbing wood on wood, and to thresh grain, as Cato's threshing floor.^[6][2] It was to grind or bruise, to wear away by attrition, as Lucretius' clothes worn out, to tread a road often, and to spend or waste time.^[2][1]

Its derivatives include trītūra “threshing” and terebra “drill”.^[4]

Timeline

• c. 250–184 BC – Plautus uses it.^[4][5]
• 234–149 BC – Cato describes a threshing floor.^[2][5]
• 190–159 BC – Terence uses it of rubbing the eyes.^[6][5]

Meanings

Verb

1. To rub.^[2][3]
2. To thresh (grain).^[2]
3. To grind, bruise.^[2][1]
4. To wear away, wear out.^[2][1]
5. To tread (a path) often.^[1]
6. To spend, pass (time).^[1]

Word family

• atterō
• circumterō
• conterō
• dēterō
• disterō
• exterō
• interō
• intrītus
• obterō
• perterō
• praeterō
• prōterō

Related words

• trīcae

References

1. ^ a b c d e f g h i Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
2. ^ a b c d e f g h i Glare, P. G. W., ed. (2012), Oxford Latin Dictionary, 2nd ed., Oxford: Oxford University Press
3. ^ a b Lewis, Charlton T.; Short, Charles (1879), A Latin Dictionary, Oxford: Clarendon Press
4. ^ 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
5. ^ a b c d Köbler, Gerhard (2010), Lateinisches Abkunfts- und Wirkungswörterbuch für Altertum und Mittelalter, online ed., koeblergerhard.de
6. ^ a b Gaffiot, Félix (2016), Dictionnaire latin-français, new ed. by Gérard Gréco et al. (Gaffiot 2016), online ed.