Etymologically
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turgidus

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Pronunciation

  • Classical: [ˈtʊr.ɡɪ.dʊs][1]
  • Ecclesiastical: [ˈtur.d͡ʒi.dus][1]

Forms

turgidus (feminine turgida, neuter turgidum); first/second-declension adjective[1]

Etymology

It is from Latin turgeō (“to swell”) + -idus.[2][1] De Vaan finds no clear etymology for turgeō; he thinks a link with obtūrō (“to block”) is possible.[3] Etymonline calls the verb of unknown origin.[4]

Earliest recorded meaning

De Vaan and Köbler find it first in Plautus,[3][5] who in the Miles gloriosus uses it of swollen eyes.[6]

Semantic evolution

It means swollen or distended: Cicero speaks of a swollen and inflamed limb, Martial of swollen lips, and Pliny the Elder of a man swollen with water under the skin.[6] Of water it means risen or swollen, as Horace's rivers swollen with winter snow.[2] Apuleius uses it figuratively of people swollen with passion or frenzy.[2] Of style it means inflated or high-flown: Horace mocks a turgid poet who murders Memnon.[2] Stelten gives "turgid, swollen" for Church Latin.[7] English turgid came from it in the 1610s; its use of prose dates from 1725.[4]

Timeline

  • c. 250–184 BC – Plautus of swollen eyes.[6][5]
  • 81–43 BC – Cicero of a swollen limb.[6]
  • 65–8 BC – Horace of swollen rivers and a turgid poet.[2]
  • c. 125–175 AD – Apuleius of frenzy.[2]
  • 1610s – turgid appears in English.[4]

Meanings

Adjective

  1. Swollen, distended;[2][6][1][7] (of water) swollen, risen.[2][6][1][7]
  2. (figurative) Inflamed with passion or frenzy.[2]
  3. (of style) Inflated, high-flown, bombastic.[2][1]

Word family

  • turgidulus

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 Glare, P. G. W., ed. (2012), Oxford Latin Dictionary, 2nd ed., Oxford: Oxford University Press
  3. ^ a b 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 Harper, Douglas. Online Etymology Dictionary, https://www.etymonline.com
  5. ^ a b Köbler, Gerhard (2010), Lateinisches Abkunfts- und Wirkungswörterbuch für Altertum und Mittelalter, online ed., koeblergerhard.de
  6. ^ a b c d e f Lewis, Charlton T.; Short, Charles (1879), A Latin Dictionary, Oxford: Clarendon Press
  7. ^ a b c Stelten, Leo F. (1995), Dictionary of Ecclesiastical Latin, Peabody, Mass.: Hendrickson