turbulentus

Forms

turbulentus (feminine turbulenta, neuter turbulentum, superlative turbulentissimus); first/second-declension adjective^[1]

Etymology

It is from Latin turba (“commotion, crowd”) + -ulentus (“full of”).^[2][1] The origin of turba is uncertain: de Vaan finds the usual link with Sanskrit त्वरते (tvarate, “hurries”) formally doubtful and considers a connection with Ancient Greek στρέφω (stréphō, “to turn”),^[3] while Wiktionary allows a borrowing from Ancient Greek τύρβη (túrbē, “disorder”).^[1]

Earliest recorded meaning

Köbler's first source is Plautus,^[4] whose Miles gloriosus has Diana saving a man “in the regions of Neptune and his stormy precincts”.^[2]

Semantic evolution

Of the sea and weather it is stormy or turbulent, and of water muddy, as in Phaedrus' “why have you made my water muddy as I drink?”^[2] Cicero uses it of the confused, haphazard collision of atoms.^[2] Figuratively it is used of times of unrest, of a mind disturbed by passion, of muddled thinking, and of unruly, riotous persons, as Cicero's “a seditious and turbulent citizen”, and their proceedings.^[2][5]

Church Latin glosses it “troublesome”.^[6]

Timeline

• c. 250–184 BC – Plautus of the stormy sea and of troubled affairs.^[2][4]
• 81–43 BC – Cicero of atoms, of passions and of seditious citizens.^[2][4]
• c. 15 BC–c. 50 AD – Phaedrus of muddied water.^[2][4]
• early 15th century – Borrowed into English as turbulent, through Old French.^[7]

Meanings

Adjective

1. Stormy, turbulent; of water, muddy; confused, haphazard.^[2][5][1]
2. Of times, full of unrest; of the mind, disturbed; muddled.^[2][5]
3. Of persons, unruly, riotous; seditious.^[2][5][1]

Word family

• turbulentia
• turbulentō

Related words

• turba
• turbō
• English turbulent

References

1. ^ a b c d e f g 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. ^ 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. ^ a b c d Lewis, Charlton T.; Short, Charles (1879), A Latin Dictionary, Oxford: Clarendon Press
6. ^ Stelten, Leo F. (1995), Dictionary of Ecclesiastical Latin, Peabody, Mass.: Hendrickson
7. ^ Harper, Douglas. Online Etymology Dictionary, https://www.etymonline.com