Etymologically
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turpo

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Pronunciation

  • Classical: [ˈtʊr.poː][1]
  • Ecclesiastical: [ˈtur.po][1]

Forms

turpō (present infinitive turpāre, perfect active turpāvī, supine turpātum); first conjugation[1]

Etymology

It is from Latin turpis (“ugly, foul, shameful”) + -ō.[2][1][3] The origin of the adjective is unknown: de Vaan rejects the comparison by Walde and Hofmann and by Pokorny with Sanskrit त्रपते (trapate, “to be ashamed”) and a root Proto-Indo-European *trep- (“to turn”) as too constructed, and finds a link with torpeō (“to be numb”) no smoother.[3]

Earliest recorded meaning

It is found from Ennius on,[3] who speaks of the altar of Jupiter defiled with blood, Iovis aram sanguine turpari.[2][4]

Semantic evolution

It is mostly poetic.[5] Virgil has hair defiled with blood and grey hair with dust;[2][5][6] Horace a scar that disfigured a forehead and wrinkles that make someone ugly;[2][5][6] Tacitus the disfigurement of scabies.[2][5][6] Pacuvius already uses it of dishonour, ni turpassis vanitudine aetatem tuam, and Livy of a camp nearly tainted by the sedition in the city;[2][6][4] Statius has it of disgracing one's ancestors.[2][6][4] Augustine uses it of the monstrous ugliness of an idol, and Ecclesiastical Latin keeps the senses of defiling, befouling and making ugly.[6][7]

Timeline

  • 204–169 BC – Ennius uses it of an altar defiled with blood.[2][8]
  • 220–130 BC – Pacuvius uses it of dishonour.[2][8]
  • 65–8 BC – Horace uses it of a scar disfiguring a forehead.[2][8]
  • 354–430 AD – Augustine uses it.[6][8]

Meanings

Verb

  1. To make foul, pollute, defile.[2][5][7]
  2. To make unsightly, disfigure.[2][5][4]
  3. (figurative) To dishonour, disgrace.[2][5][6]

Word family

  • dēturpō

References

  1. ^ a b c d Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
  2. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m 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 Conte, Gian Biagio; Pianezzola, Emilio; Ranucci, Giuliano (2010), il Latino: Vocabolario della lingua latina, 3rd ed., Florence: Le Monnier
  5. ^ a b c d e f g Lewis, Charlton T.; Short, Charles (1879), A Latin Dictionary, Oxford: Clarendon Press
  6. ^ a b c d e f g h Georges, Karl Ernst (1913–1918), Ausführliches lateinisch-deutsches Handwörterbuch, 8th ed., ed. Heinrich Georges, Hannover; Leipzig: Hahn
  7. ^ a b Stelten, Leo F. (1995), Dictionary of Ecclesiastical Latin, Peabody, Mass.: Hendrickson
  8. ^ a b c d Köbler, Gerhard (2010), Lateinisches Abkunfts- und Wirkungswörterbuch für Altertum und Mittelalter, online ed., koeblergerhard.de