Etymologically
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tructa

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Forms

tructa f (genitive tructae); first declension[1] Medieval spellings include trocta, trutta, truta, truita, troita, trucha and trocha.[2] A masculine tructus is also found.[3][4]

Etymology

It is a Late Latin word,[1][5][6] perhaps borrowed from Ancient Greek τρώκτης (trṓktēs, “nibbler”), the name of a fish,[1][7][8] from τρώγω (trṓgō, “to gnaw”).[1][8] Lewis & Short and Georges simply equate it with the Greek word.[3][4]

Earliest recorded meaning

Gregory of Tours uses it for a trout in his book on the glory of the martyrs.[5][7]

Semantic evolution

Isidore of Seville lists it among the fishes in the Etymologiae,[3][4][9] and a poem of the Latin Anthology names it too.[4][5] A masculine form tructus occurs in Pliny Valerianus.[3][4][9]

Medieval Latin kept the word with many spellings,[2][10] and in England Ælfric glossed it with Old English truht.[6] It is the source of Italian trota[5] and French truite,[10][8] and English trout comes from it through Old English and Old French.[8]

Timeline

  • 538/539–594 – Gregory of Tours mentions the trout.[5][7]
  • c. 560–636 – Isidore of Seville lists it among the fishes.[3][4][7]

Meanings

Noun

  1. (Late Latin) A trout.[3][4][2][6]

Usage notes

The Neo-Latin author Platina explained truta as named from trūdere “to push”, because the fish always pushes against the current.[11]

References

  1. ^ a b c d Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
  2. ^ a b c Niermeyer, J. F. (1976), Mediae Latinitatis Lexicon Minus, Leiden: Brill
  3. ^ a b c d e f Lewis, Charlton T.; Short, Charles (1879), A Latin Dictionary, Oxford: Clarendon Press
  4. ^ a b c d e f g Georges, Karl Ernst (1913–1918), Ausführliches lateinisch-deutsches Handwörterbuch, 8th ed., ed. Heinrich Georges, Hannover; Leipzig: Hahn
  5. ^ a b c d e Conte, Gian Biagio; Pianezzola, Emilio; Ranucci, Giuliano (2010), il Latino: Vocabolario della lingua latina, 3rd ed., Florence: Le Monnier
  6. ^ a b c 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
  7. ^ a b c d Köbler, Gerhard (2010), Lateinisches Abkunfts- und Wirkungswörterbuch für Altertum und Mittelalter, online ed., koeblergerhard.de
  8. ^ a b c d Harper, Douglas. Online Etymology Dictionary, https://www.etymonline.com
  9. ^ a b Gaffiot, Félix (2016), Dictionnaire latin-français, new ed. by Gérard Gréco et al. (Gaffiot 2016), online ed.
  10. ^ a b du Cange, Charles du Fresne, et al. (1883–1887), Glossarium mediae et infimae latinitatis, augmented ed. by Léopold Favre, Niort: L. Favre
  11. ^ Ramminger, Johann, Neulateinische Wortliste: Ein Wörterbuch des Lateinischen von Petrarca bis 1700, www.neulatein.de