Etymologically
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tiro

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Pronunciation

  • Classical: [ˈtiː.roː][1]
  • Ecclesiastical: [ˈtiː.ro][1]

Forms

tīrō m (genitive tīrōnis); third declension[1]

Etymology

The origin is unknown.[2][3][1] Köbler, after Walde and Hofmann, takes it as probably borrowed from Ancient Greek *τείρων (*teírōn), an unattested form.[4] Wiktionary reports Ostler's suggestion of an unattested Etruscan source and a recent proposal deriving it from triō, with an original sense “young ox”, which it calls far-fetched.[1]

Earliest recorded meaning

Köbler's first source is Cicero,[4] who says of himself “when I was a recruit in his army” and calls new soldiers “the flower of Italy”.[2]

Semantic evolution

A military word for a newly enlisted soldier, as in Caesar's “legion of recruits”, it was also used almost as an adjective (tīrōnēs mīlitēs).[2][5] Cicero already applies it to a novice gladiator, and it spread to any beginner in an art or occupation;[2] Horace uses it of young men who have just put on the toga of manhood.[2] Church Latin glosses it “beginner, recruit, novice”.[6]

In Medieval Latin it was a household knight without a fief, and a champion in single combat.[7] The medieval spelling tyro gave English tyro “beginner” in the 1610s; Ælfric's vocabulary had glossed the word with Old English iungwiga.[3] It is also the cognomen of Cicero's freedman and secretary Marcus Tullius Tiro.[2][5]

Timeline

  • 81–43 BC – Cicero of recruits and of a novice gladiator.[2][4]
  • c. 50 BC – Caesar's legions of recruits.[5][4]
  • 65–8 BC – Horace of young men just come of age.[2][4]
  • Medieval Latin – a household knight; a champion.[7]
  • 1610s – English tyro.[3]

Meanings

Noun

  1. A newly enlisted soldier, recruit; used almost as an adjective, newly enlisted.[2][5][1]
  2. A novice, beginner in any activity; a young man just come of age.[2][1][6]
  3. (Medieval Latin) A household knight holding no fief; a champion in single combat.[7]

Word family

  • tīrōcinium
  • tironatus
  • tīrunculus
  • English tyro

References

  1. ^ a b c d e f g Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
  2. ^ a b c d e f g h i j Glare, P. G. W., ed. (2012), Oxford Latin Dictionary, 2nd ed., Oxford: Oxford University Press
  3. ^ a b c Harper, Douglas. Online Etymology Dictionary, https://www.etymonline.com
  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 Lewis, Charlton T.; Short, Charles (1879), A Latin Dictionary, Oxford: Clarendon Press
  6. ^ a b Stelten, Leo F. (1995), Dictionary of Ecclesiastical Latin, Peabody, Mass.: Hendrickson
  7. ^ a b c Niermeyer, J. F. (1976), Mediae Latinitatis Lexicon Minus, Leiden: Brill