Etymologically
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turtur

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Pronunciation

  • Classical: [ˈtʊr.tʊr][1]
  • Ecclesiastical: [ˈtur.tur][1]

Forms

turtur m (genitive turturis); third declension[1] It is masculine, but Pliny the Elder uses it as feminine.[2][3]

Etymology

It is onomatopoeic, a reduplication imitating the bird's coo, like upupa (“hoopoe”) and murmur (“murmur”).[4][1][3] Pokorny lists it among sound-imitating words with ⟨t⟩ and ⟨r⟩, beside Ancient Greek τρυγών (trugṓn, “turtle dove”) and τρύζω (trúzō, “to coo”).[5]

Earliest recorded meaning

Plautus uses it several times, in the Mostellaria, the Bacchides and the Poenulus.[2][3][6]

Semantic evolution

It is the turtle dove, which Varro and Columella discuss in their works on farming,[2] and which Virgil and Ovid mention in poetry.[2][3] Turtur marinus, the sea turtle dove, was a stingray.[7] The bird appears in Ecclesiastical Latin,[8] and medieval writers in Britain use it of the bird and of its supposed virtues, such as never taking a second mate.[9] Italian tortora continues it.[3]

Timeline

  • c. 250–184 BC – Plautus uses it in several comedies.[2][6]
  • 116–27 BC – Varro writes about keeping turtle doves.[2][6]
  • 70–19 BC – Virgil mentions the bird in the Eclogues.[2][3][6]
  • 23/24–79 AD – Pliny the Elder uses it as feminine.[2][3][6]

Meanings

Noun

  1. The turtle dove.[4][2]
  2. turtur marīnus: a stingray.[7]

Word family

  • turturella

References

  1. ^ a b c d Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
  2. ^ a b c d e f g h i Lewis, Charlton T.; Short, Charles (1879), A Latin Dictionary, Oxford: Clarendon Press
  3. ^ a b c d e f g Conte, Gian Biagio; Pianezzola, Emilio; Ranucci, Giuliano (2010), il Latino: Vocabolario della lingua latina, 3rd ed., Florence: Le Monnier
  4. ^ a b Glare, P. G. W., ed. (2012), Oxford Latin Dictionary, 2nd ed., Oxford: Oxford University Press
  5. ^ Pokorny, Julius (1959), Indogermanisches etymologisches Wörterbuch, Bern; Munich: Francke
  6. ^ a b c d e Köbler, Gerhard (2010), Lateinisches Abkunfts- und Wirkungswörterbuch für Altertum und Mittelalter, online ed., koeblergerhard.de
  7. ^ a b Georges, Karl Ernst (1913–1918), Ausführliches lateinisch-deutsches Handwörterbuch, 8th ed., ed. Heinrich Georges, Hannover; Leipzig: Hahn
  8. ^ Stelten, Leo F. (1995), Dictionary of Ecclesiastical Latin, Peabody, Mass.: Hendrickson
  9. ^ 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