tueor

Pronunciation

• IPA (Classical): [ˈtu.e.ɔr]^[1]
• IPA (Ecclesiastical): [ˈtuː.e.or]^[1]

Forms

tueor (present infinitive tuērī, perfect active tuitus sum); second conjugation, deponent^[1]

Etymology

The origin is uncertain.^[1][2] De Vaan reconstructs Proto-Italic *-tow-ē- (“to protect”), perhaps from a causative Proto-Indo-European *touh₂-eie-, and thinks the first meaning was “to watch over, protect”, which became “to look at”.^[3] This would connect it with the root *tewh₂- “to be strong”, as in Sanskrit तवस् (tavás, “strong”).^[1][3] The old participle tūtus belongs to the variant tuor, the source of tūtor “guardian”.^[3]

Earliest recorded meaning

De Vaan dates it from Plautus.^[3] Ennius and Lucretius have the third-conjugation form tuor.^[3][2] Köbler dates Plautus c. 250–184 BC.^[4]

Semantic evolution

In poetry it meant to look at or view, as in Ennius.^[2] In prose its usual senses were to protect people from danger, to guard a position in war, to defend someone's interests, to maintain or keep something in good order, to support people with food, and to look after or have charge of something.^[2]

Döderlein contrasts tuērī, guarding against a possible danger, with dēfendō, defending against an actual attack, and links it with the guardianship of minors by a tūtor.^[5] Its derivatives include tūtus “safe”, intueor “to look at”, tuitiō “protection” and tūtor; English tutor and English tuition come from the last two.^[6]

Timeline

• c. 250–184 BC – Plautus uses it.^[3][4]
• 204–169 BC – Ennius uses it of looking someone in the face.^[2][4]
• 81–43 BC – Cicero uses it of protecting and maintaining.^[2][4]
• late 14th century – English tutor is recorded.^[6]

Meanings

Verb

1. To look at, view.^[2]
2. To protect, watch over; to guard (a position).^[2]
3. To defend (a person's interests).^[2]
4. To maintain, keep in good order; to support, feed.^[2]
5. To look after, have charge of.^[2]

Word family

• circumtueor
• contueor
• intueor
• obtueor
• tuitiō
• tūtāmen
• tūtē
• tūtō
• tūtor
• tūtus

Related words

• tōmentum
• English tutor
• English tuition

References

1. ^ a b c d e 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 de Vaan, Michiel (2008), Etymological Dictionary of Latin and the other Italic Languages, Leiden Indo-European Etymological Dictionary Series 7, Leiden; Boston: Brill
4. ^ a b c d Köbler, Gerhard (2010), Lateinisches Abkunfts- und Wirkungswörterbuch für Altertum und Mittelalter, online ed., koeblergerhard.de
5. ^ Döderlein, Ludwig (1874), Döderlein’s Hand-book of Latin Synonymes, tr. H. H. Arnold, Andover: W. F. Draper
6. ^ a b Harper, Douglas. Online Etymology Dictionary, https://www.etymonline.com