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tinnio

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Etymology and origin of the Latin word tinnio

Confidence
Established
Formation
Onomatopoeia
First attested
c. 250–184 BC Plautus More words from the 3rd century BC
Derivations

Pronunciation

  • Classical: [ˈtɪn.ni.oː][1]
  • Ecclesiastical: [ˈtin.ni.o][1]

Forms

tinniō (present infinitive tinnīre, perfect active tinnīvī or tinniī, supine tinnītum); fourth conjugation[1]

Etymology

It is an onomatopoeic (imitative) word.[2][1] Lewis & Short compared tonō (“to thunder”).[3]

Earliest recorded meaning

It is found from Plautus on:[2] in the Casina one character tells another “hush, you're too shrill” (nimium tinnis),[2] and in the Trinummus a little bell rings.[3][4]

Semantic evolution

The first meaning is the ringing of metal: Ennius uses it of a shield's boss struck by spears.[2] It was used of ringing ears,[2] and Quintilian of the ringing nasal sound of ⟨m⟩.[2][3] Of voices it meant to speak or sing in a shrill tone, and Calpurnius Siculus uses it of birds singing in spring.[2][3]

In everyday speech it meant “to make one's money ring”, that is to pay: Cicero waits to see whether Dolabella will pay up.[3][4] Persius uses it of metal that rings false.[3]

Timeline

  • c. 250–184 BC – Plautus uses it of a ringing bell and of a shrill voice.[2][3][5]
  • 204–169 BC – Ennius uses it of a shield's boss.[2][5]
  • 81–43 BC – Cicero uses it for paying money.[3][4]
  • 34–62 AD – Persius uses it of metal that rings false.[3]
  • c. 35–95/96 AD – Quintilian uses it of the sound of ⟨m⟩.[2][3]

Meanings

Verb

  1. To ring, clang, jingle (of metal); (of the ears) to ring.[2][3]
  2. To have a ringing nasal sound.[2]
  3. To speak or sing in a shrill voice;[2][3] (of birds) to sing.[2][3]
  4. (colloquial) To pay, make one's money ring.[3][4]

Word family

  • circumtinniō
  • obtinniō
  • retinniō
  • subtinnio
  • tinnīmentum
  • tinnito
  • tinnītus
  • tinnulus
  • tinnunculus
  • tintinō
  • tintinnābulātus
  • tintinnābulum
  • tintinnāculus
  • tintinnum

References

  1. ^ a b c d Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
  2. ^ 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
  3. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m n Lewis, Charlton T.; Short, Charles (1879), A Latin Dictionary, Oxford: Clarendon Press
  4. ^ a b c d Conte, Gian Biagio; Pianezzola, Emilio; Ranucci, Giuliano (2010), il Latino: Vocabolario della lingua latina, 3rd ed., Florence: Le Monnier
  5. ^ a b Köbler, Gerhard (2010), Lateinisches Abkunfts- und Wirkungswörterbuch für Altertum und Mittelalter, online ed., koeblergerhard.de
Cite this entry

“Tinnio.” Etymologically, 13 Nov. 2026, etymologically.com/la/tinnio. Accessed 14 Nov. 2026.

Last edited on . ·