tropus

Forms

tropus m (genitive tropī); second declension^[1] Also tropos.^[2]

Etymology

It is borrowed from Ancient Greek τρόπος (trópos, “turn, manner; figure of speech”), from τρέπω (trépō, “to turn”), Proto-Indo-European *trep- (“to turn”).^[2][1][3][4]

Earliest recorded meaning

The OLD and Lewis & Short cite Quintilian, who discusses tropes.^[2][5] Köbler dates Quintilian c. 35–95/96 AD.^[3]

Semantic evolution

In rhetoric it was a figure of speech, the figurative use of a word, a post-Augustan term for trānslātiō.^[2][5]

In Ecclesiastical Latin it was a trope, a song or manner of singing.^[6] In Medieval Latin it was a chant, and a trope, a melody and text added to a liturgical chant.^[7] British glossaries also have it for mode, manner.^[8] English trope is recorded in the 1530s.^[4]

Timeline

• c. 35–95/96 AD – Quintilian uses it.^[2][3]
• 1530s – English trope is recorded.^[4]

Meanings

Noun

1. (rhetoric) A figure of speech, trope.^[2]
2. (Medieval Latin) A chant; a trope added to a liturgical chant.^[7][6]

Related words

• figūra
• English trope

References

1. ^ a b Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
2. ^ a b c d e f Glare, P. G. W., ed. (2012), Oxford Latin Dictionary, 2nd ed., Oxford: Oxford University Press
3. ^ a b c Köbler, Gerhard (2010), Lateinisches Abkunfts- und Wirkungswörterbuch für Altertum und Mittelalter, online ed., koeblergerhard.de
4. ^ a b c Harper, Douglas. Online Etymology Dictionary, https://www.etymonline.com
5. ^ a b Lewis, Charlton T.; Short, Charles (1879), A Latin Dictionary, Oxford: Clarendon Press
6. ^ a b Stelten, Leo F. (1995), Dictionary of Ecclesiastical Latin, Peabody, Mass.: Hendrickson
7. ^ a b Niermeyer, J. F. (1976), Mediae Latinitatis Lexicon Minus, Leiden: Brill
8. ^ 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