torpedo

Pronunciation

• IPA (Classical): [tɔrˈpeː.doː]^[1]
• IPA (Ecclesiastical): [torˈpɛː.do]^[1]

Forms

torpēdō f (genitive torpēdinis); third declension^[1]

Etymology

It is from Latin torpeō (“to be numb”) + -ēdō.^[2][1] Etymonline traces torpeō to Proto-Indo-European *ster- (“stiff”).^[3]

Earliest recorded meaning

Cato, quoted by Gellius, says that sluggishness does more harm than exercise.^[2][4] Köbler dates Cato 234–149 BC.^[5]

Semantic evolution

Its first sense was sluggishness, lethargy, numbness, rare and not in Cicero or Caesar: Sallust and Tacitus use it of inertia that seized the mind.^[2][4][6] It was also the electric ray, a fish whose touch numbs, in Varro, Cicero and Pliny the Elder.^[2][7] Isidore says it is named because it makes the body numb if anyone touches it alive.^[8]

Medieval writers kept both senses, sloth and the fish.^[9] English torpedo is recorded in the 1520s for the electric ray.^[3]

Timeline

• 234–149 BC – Cato uses it of sluggishness.^[2][5]
• 116–27 BC – Varro uses it of the electric ray.^[2][5]
• 98–115 AD – Tacitus uses it of lethargy.^[2][5]
• 1520s – English torpedo is recorded for the fish.^[3]

Meanings

Noun

1. Sluggishness, lethargy, numbness.^[2][1]
2. The electric ray, a torpedo fish.^[2][1]

Related words

• torpeō
• torpor
• English torpedo

References

1. ^ a b c d e f 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 c Harper, Douglas. Online Etymology Dictionary, https://www.etymonline.com
4. ^ a b 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. ^ Georges, Karl Ernst (1913–1918), Ausführliches lateinisch-deutsches Handwörterbuch, 8th ed., ed. Heinrich Georges, Hannover; Leipzig: Hahn
7. ^ Gaffiot, Félix (2016), Dictionnaire latin-français, new ed. by Gérard Gréco et al. (Gaffiot 2016), online ed.
8. ^ Isidore of Seville, Etymologiarum sive Originum libri XX, ed. W. M. Lindsay (Oxford, 1911).
9. ^ Latham, R. E., D. R. Howlett, R. K. Ashdowne, et al. (1975–2013), Dictionary of Medieval Latin from British Sources, London: British Academy / Oxford University Press