tonsa

Pronunciation

• IPA (Classical): [ˈtõː.sa], [ˈtõː.saː]^[1]
• IPA (Ecclesiastical): [ˈtɔn.sa], [ˈtɔn.sa]^[1]

Forms

tōnsa f (genitive tōnsae); first declension^[1]

Etymology

It has no good etymology.^[2][1][3] Walde and Hofmann and Pokorny derived it from tondeō “to shear”, which de Vaan finds semantically senseless, and Lewis and Short suggested tundō “to beat”.^[2][4]

Earliest recorded meaning

De Vaan dates it from Ennius, quoted by Festus, who speaks of holding an oar on the great sea.^[2][4] Köbler dates Ennius 204–169 BC.^[5]

Semantic evolution

It meant an oar, a poetic word used mostly in the plural, as in Lucretius and Virgil, and in the singular in Valerius Flaccus.^[3][4][6] Ennius also has tōnsilla “mooring-stake”.^[2]

Timeline

• 204–169 BC – Ennius uses it.^[2][5]
• 96–55 BC – Lucretius uses it in the plural.^[6][5]
• 70–19 BC – Virgil uses it.^[6][5]

Meanings

Noun

1. An oar.^[3]

Related words

• rēmus

References

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