turma

Forms

turma f (genitive turmae); first declension^[1]

Etymology

The origin is uncertain.^[2][3] The OLD compares Old English þrymm (“multitude, host”) and thinks it may ultimately be related to turba (“crowd, uproar”); de Vaan lists it among the derivatives of ⟨turba⟩, itself without a sure etymology.^[2][3] Köbler and Pokorny put it with Proto-Indo-European *twer- (“to turn, whirl”).^[4]

Earliest recorded meaning

De Vaan's first author is Cato.^[3]

Semantic evolution

It is a small troop or squadron of cavalry, the tenth part of an āla, at first of thirty and later of thirty-two horsemen.^[2][5] It is also a unit in special corps, one of the divisions into which Augustus organized the knights (Pliny the Elder), and a troop of riders in a mock fight, as Virgil's three squadrons in the Trojan game.^[2] Festus applies it to infantry, and Horace perhaps uses it of any company, the gods and the throngs of mortals.^[2] In general it is a crowd or band.^[1][6]

In Medieval Latin the plural is the groups of monks who took turns in the unceasing praise of God.^[7]

Timeline

• 234–149 BC – Cato.^[3][4]
• 81–43 BC – Cicero of cavalry squadrons.^[4]
• 70–19 BC – Virgil of riders in the Trojan game.^[2][4]
• 23/24–79 AD – Pliny the Elder of the divisions of the knights.^[2][4]

Meanings

Noun

1. A troop or squadron of cavalry.^[2][1][6]
2. A unit of a special corps; a division of the knights; a troop of riders in a mock fight.^[2]
3. A company, crowd, band.^[2][1][6]
4. (Medieval Latin, plural) Groups taking turns in divine service.^[7]

Word family

• conturmo
• turmālis
• turmātim
• turmāriī

Related words

• turba

References

1. ^ a b c d e f 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 c d 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 e Köbler, Gerhard (2010), Lateinisches Abkunfts- und Wirkungswörterbuch für Altertum und Mittelalter, online ed., koeblergerhard.de
5. ^ Lewis, Charlton T.; Short, Charles (1879), A Latin Dictionary, Oxford: Clarendon Press
6. ^ a b c Stelten, Leo F. (1995), Dictionary of Ecclesiastical Latin, Peabody, Mass.: Hendrickson
7. ^ a b Niermeyer, J. F. (1976), Mediae Latinitatis Lexicon Minus, Leiden: Brill