Etymologically
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torpedo

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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]

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