Etymologically
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turmatim

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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]

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