turmatim

Forms

turmātim (not comparable)^[1]

Etymology

It is from Latin turma (“troop of horsemen”) + -ātim.^[2][1] The origin of turma is unclear: de Vaan says it may or may not be related to turba (“crowd”), and if so both could be loanwords rendering a labial of the donor language as /b/ and /m/.^[3] Pokorny compared Old Norse þruma (“noise”) and Old English ðrymm (“troop, crowd”), which de Vaan notes does not explain the different order of /r/ and /u/.^[3]

Earliest recorded meaning

De Vaan dates it from Lucretius,^[3] who pictures tiny bodies fighting turmātim, in troops.^[4][5]

Semantic evolution

It means by troops or squadrons, of cavalry:^[2][4] Caesar's horsemen begin to deploy squadron by squadron, and Sallust, Livy and Hirtius use it of troops and bands in war.^[4][5] Lucretius already used it more generally, of things moving in bands.^[4][6]

British medieval writers used it of bodies of troops and, more widely, of people or animals in groups: William of Malmesbury writes of students coming in crowds, and a collection of stories of the starling that flies in flocks.^[7]

Timeline

• 96–55 BC – Lucretius uses it of particles fighting in troops.^[4][8]
• c. 50 BC – Caesar uses it of cavalry deploying by squadrons.^[4][8]
• 59 BC–17 AD – Livy uses it of barbarians roaming in bands.^[4][8]

Meanings

Adverb

1. By troops or squadrons (of cavalry).^[2][4]
2. In bands, in groups.^[4][7]

Related words

• turma

References

1. ^ a b Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
2. ^ a b c Glare, P. G. W., ed. (2012), Oxford Latin Dictionary, 2nd ed., Oxford: Oxford University Press
3. ^ a b c 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 f g h i Lewis, Charlton T.; Short, Charles (1879), A Latin Dictionary, Oxford: Clarendon Press
5. ^ a b Conte, Gian Biagio; Pianezzola, Emilio; Ranucci, Giuliano (2010), il Latino: Vocabolario della lingua latina, 3rd ed., Florence: Le Monnier
6. ^ Georges, Karl Ernst (1913–1918), Ausführliches lateinisch-deutsches Handwörterbuch, 8th ed., ed. Heinrich Georges, Hannover; Leipzig: Hahn
7. ^ a b Latham, R. E., D. R. Howlett, R. K. Ashdowne, et al. (1975–2013), Dictionary of Medieval Latin from British Sources, London: British Academy / Oxford University Press
8. ^ a b c Köbler, Gerhard (2010), Lateinisches Abkunfts- und Wirkungswörterbuch für Altertum und Mittelalter, online ed., koeblergerhard.de