Etymologically
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titillo

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Forms

tītillō (present infinitive tītillāre, perfect active tītillāvī, supine tītillātum); first conjugation[1]

Etymology

The origin is uncertain.[2][1] The OLD calls it onomatopoeic and compares Ancient Greek τιτθός (titthós).[2] Wiktionary gives it as either imitative of the sound of giggling or a reduplicated form made from Ancient Greek τίλλω (tíllō, “to pluck, annoy”).[1]

Earliest recorded meaning

Lucretius is the first to use it, of slightly projecting angles that tickle the senses rather than hurt them.[2][3]

Semantic evolution

Cicero uses it with quasi (“so to speak”) of pleasure that tickles the senses and of flatterers who tickle the fickle crowd with pleasure.[2][3] In Horace glory tickles men, and Seneca asks whether one wishes to tickle grief, and uses it absolutely of amusing oneself with trifles.[2][3]

Christian writers used it of the flesh and of desires: Tertullian of the flesh, Jerome of the desire for clerical office, Augustine of old habit, Lactantius of the enticements that tickle souls.[3][4] In Ecclesiastical Latin it means to tickle, titillate.[5] English formed titillate in the 1610s as a back-formation from titillation.[6]

Timeline

  • 96–55 BC – Lucretius uses it of the senses being tickled.[2][7]
  • 81–43 BC – Cicero uses it of pleasure and flattery.[2][7]
  • 65–8 BC – Horace says glory tickles men.[2][7]
  • c. 160–220 AD – Tertullian uses it of the flesh.[3][7]
  • 1610s – English forms titillate from titillation.[6]

Meanings

Verb

  1. To tickle.[2][3]
  2. To stimulate pleasantly, titillate;[2][3] (figurative) to excite or entice.[2][3]
  3. (intransitive) To amuse oneself.[2][3]

Word family

  • tītillāmentum
  • tītillātiō
  • tītillātus
  • tītillus
  • tītillōsus
  • English titillate

References

  1. ^ a b c 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 d e f g h i Lewis, Charlton T.; Short, Charles (1879), A Latin Dictionary, Oxford: Clarendon Press
  4. ^ Georges, Karl Ernst (1913–1918), Ausführliches lateinisch-deutsches Handwörterbuch, 8th ed., ed. Heinrich Georges, Hannover; Leipzig: Hahn
  5. ^ Stelten, Leo F. (1995), Dictionary of Ecclesiastical Latin, Peabody, Mass.: Hendrickson
  6. ^ a b Harper, Douglas. Online Etymology Dictionary, https://www.etymonline.com
  7. ^ a b c d Köbler, Gerhard (2010), Lateinisches Abkunfts- und Wirkungswörterbuch für Altertum und Mittelalter, online ed., koeblergerhard.de