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tumesco

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Etymology and origin of the Latin word tumesco

Confidence
Established
Formation
Derivation
First attested
81–43 BC, Cicero
Ultimate origin
Proto-Indo-European (*tum-eh₁-)
Etymology tree
inherited borrowed derived
Latin tumeo
Latin tumesco
Latin intumesco
Latin tumulus
Latin tumor
English tumor
Latin tumidus

Pronunciation

  • Classical: [tʊˈmeːs.koː][1]
  • Ecclesiastical: [tuˈmɛs.ko][1]

Forms

tumēscō (present infinitive tumēscere, perfect active tumuī); third conjugation, no passive, no supine stem[1]

Etymology

It is from Latin tumeō (“to swell”) + -scō, an inchoative.[2][3] De Vaan traces tumeō to Proto-Indo-European *tum-eh₁- (“to be swelling”), cognate with Lithuanian tumėti (“to become thick”) and Sanskrit तुम्र (túmra, “strong, thick”).[4]

Earliest recorded meaning

Cicero's verse translation of Aratus has the sea swelling suddenly and deeply.[2][3]

Semantic evolution

It means to begin to swell or become swollen: Ovid has a swelling womb and puffed-up necks, Virgil and Ovid seas swelling with wind, and Tacitus wounds.[2][3] Vitruvius uses it of an aqueduct rising gently over a long stretch.[2] Figuratively a mind swells with pride or passion, as in Quintilian,[2] and wars swell in secret, as Virgil says of hidden revolts.[2] Lewis & Short find it in poetry and post-Augustan prose.[3] For the perfect, the OLD refers to tumeō.[2]

Timeline

  • 81–43 BC – Cicero, of the swelling sea.[2][3][5]
  • 70–19 BC – Virgil, of seas and of hidden wars.[2][3][5]
  • c. 35–95/96 AD – Quintilian, of a mind swelling with conceit.[2][5]

Meanings

Verb

  1. To begin to swell, become distended or swollen.[2][3][1]
  2. (figurative) To swell with pride or passion; to gather force, come to a head.[2][1]

Word family

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 l Glare, P. G. W., ed. (2012), Oxford Latin Dictionary, 2nd ed., Oxford: Oxford University Press
  3. ^ a b c d e f g Lewis, Charlton T.; Short, Charles (1879), A Latin Dictionary, Oxford: Clarendon Press
  4. ^ de Vaan, Michiel (2008), Etymological Dictionary of Latin and the other Italic Languages, Leiden Indo-European Etymological Dictionary Series 7, Leiden; Boston: Brill
  5. ^ a b c Köbler, Gerhard (2010), Lateinisches Abkunfts- und Wirkungswörterbuch für Altertum und Mittelalter, online ed., koeblergerhard.de

Derived terms

Cite this entry

“Tumesco.” Etymologically, 20 Oct. 2026, etymologically.com/la/tumesco. Accessed 20 Oct. 2026.

Last edited on . ·