turpiter

Forms

turpiter (comparative turpius, superlative turpissimē)^[1]

Etymology

It is formed from turpis (“ugly, shameful”) with the adverb suffix -ter.^[2][1] The origin of ⟨turpis⟩ is unclear: Walde and Hofmann and Pokorny compared Sanskrit त्रपते (trapate, “is ashamed”), from a root meaning “to turn”, which de Vaan finds too contrived in meaning; he would sooner connect torpeō (“to be numb”).^[3]

Earliest recorded meaning

Terence has “I am angry with you, for, by Hercules, you acted shamefully” in the Hecyra;^[2] Köbler gives Cicero.^[4]

Semantic evolution

It is in an ugly or unsightly way, as Horace's picture of a beautiful woman whose body ends hideously in a black fish, and Ovid's man who limps badly.^[2][1] Above all it is shamefully, disgracefully or dishonourably, as Quadrigarius' “he did not let Roman valour be shamefully stripped by a Gaul” and Cicero's “most shamefully defeated”.^[2][1]

Church Latin glosses it “in an unsightly manner, dishonorably, shamefully, disgracefully”.^[5]

Timeline

• 190–159 BC – Terence of shameful conduct.^[2][4]
• 81–43 BC – Cicero of a shameful defeat.^[2][4]
• 65–8 BC – Horace of an ugly picture.^[2][4]

Meanings

Adverb

1. In an ugly or unsightly way.^[2][1][5]
2. Shamefully, disgracefully, dishonourably.^[2][5]

Related words

• turpis
• turpitūdō
• turpō

References

1. ^ a b c d e Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
2. ^ a b c d e f g h i 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 Stelten, Leo F. (1995), Dictionary of Ecclesiastical Latin, Peabody, Mass.: Hendrickson