Etymologically
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torquis

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Pronunciation

  • Classical: [ˈtɔr.kʷɪs][1]
  • Ecclesiastical: [ˈtɔr.kʷis][1]

Forms

torquis f (genitive torquis); third declension[1] The OLD enters it as torquēs, masculine and sometimes feminine;[2][3] torquis appears in Naevius, Livy and Propertius.[2][3] Köbler lists torcēs and other spellings.[4]

Etymology

It is formed on the root of torqueō “to twist”.[2][3][1] De Vaan traces torqueō to Proto-Italic *torkʷ-eie- (“to twist”) and the causative Proto-Indo-European *torkʷ-eie- (“to twist”), comparing Hittite tar(k)u- (“to dance”) and Sanskrit तर्कु (tarku-, “spindle”).[5]

Earliest recorded meaning

Köbler dates it from Plautus;[4] Naevius has the form torquis, and Varro's Menippean Satires the feminine plural.[2][3]

Semantic evolution

It is a collar or necklace of twisted metal, worn especially as a military ornament or award: Varro has golden ones, and Horace has booty added to slender collars.[2][3] Virgil uses it of the yoke-collar joining a pair of oxen, and of wreaths on altars.[3][2] Pliny the Elder has a bird green all over except for a red ring on its neck, and Manilius the huge coils of a sea monster.[2][3] Church Latin glosses it collar, necklace, wreath, ring or chain.[6] English antiquarians have used torque since 1834 for a twisted metal ornament of this kind.[7]

Timeline

  • c. 235–200 BC – Naevius uses the form torquis.[2][3][4]
  • 116–27 BC – Varro of golden collars.[3][4]
  • 70–19 BC – Virgil of yoke-collars and wreaths.[3][4]
  • 23/24–79 AD – Pliny the Elder of a ring on a bird's neck.[2][4]
  • 1834 – English antiquarians adopt torque.[7]

Meanings

Noun

  1. A collar or necklace of twisted metal, often a military decoration; a torque.[2][3][1][6]
  2. A yoke-collar for oxen.[3]
  3. A collar-like marking; a ring, wreath, coil.[2][3][1]

Word family

  • torquātus

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 j k 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 j k l m Lewis, Charlton T.; Short, Charles (1879), A Latin Dictionary, Oxford: Clarendon Press
  4. ^ a b c d e f Köbler, Gerhard (2010), Lateinisches Abkunfts- und Wirkungswörterbuch für Altertum und Mittelalter, online ed., koeblergerhard.de
  5. ^ de Vaan, Michiel (2008), Etymological Dictionary of Latin and the other Italic Languages, Leiden Indo-European Etymological Dictionary Series 7, Leiden; Boston: Brill
  6. ^ a b Stelten, Leo F. (1995), Dictionary of Ecclesiastical Latin, Peabody, Mass.: Hendrickson
  7. ^ a b Harper, Douglas. Online Etymology Dictionary, https://www.etymonline.com