Etymologically
Log in

tussis

This is the current revision of this entry, as edited by bogdan on 20 October 2026 at 14:07. This address is a permanent link to this version.
Changes in this edit History

Pronunciation

  • Classical: [ˈtʊs.sɪs], [ˈtʊs.siːs][1]
  • Ecclesiastical: [ˈtus.sis], [ˈtus.sis][1]

Forms

tussis f (genitive tussis); third declension[1] The accusative singular is tussim and the ablative tussī;[2][3] Gargilius Martialis has an unusual accusative tussem.[3]

Etymology

The origin is uncertain.[4][5] Wiktionary takes it as inherited from Proto-Italic *tussis, from Proto-Indo-European *tud-tí-s, a derivative of the root of tundō (“to beat”).[1] The OLD too derives it, perhaps, from that verb.[2] De Vaan finds the connection with the verb conceivable in meaning, but notes that its participle ⟨tūsum⟩, from ⟨*tud-to-⟩, shows that an old ⟨*tud-ti-⟩ should have given ⟨*tūsis⟩; the double /s/ could be an onomatopoeic gemination in such a form, or the word may be a pure onomatopoeia unconnected with the verb.[4] He notes that the root Proto-Indo-European *kʷeh2s- (“to cough”) also ends in /s/.[4]

Earliest recorded meaning

De Vaan records it first in Terence,[4] who has the plural tusses, “fits of coughing”;[3][6] Köbler dates it from Plautus.[7]

Semantic evolution

It is the ordinary word for a cough.[2][6] Catullus has dare tussim, “to give someone a cough”, Celsus distinguishes an old cough and a dry cough, sicca tussis, and Pliny the Elder has tussi liberari, “to be freed of a cough”.[3][6] The plural is used of severe fits of coughing.[6][3] In Modern Latin it gave pertussis (“whooping cough”), with the prefix per-, first used by Sydenham in the 1670s.[5]

Timeline

  • 190–159 BC – Terence uses the plural tusses.[4][3][7]
  • 81/79–52/50 BC – Catullus speaks of catching a cough.[3][7]
  • 14–37 AD – Celsus distinguishes kinds of cough.[3][7]
  • 1670s – Sydenham uses Modern Latin pertussis for whooping cough.[5]

Meanings

Noun

  1. A cough.[2][6][8]
  2. In the plural, fits of coughing, a severe cough.[6][3]

Word family

  • tussēdō
  • tussicula
  • tussicus
  • tussiō
  • English pertussis

References

  1. ^ a b c d Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
  2. ^ a b c d Glare, P. G. W., ed. (2012), Oxford Latin Dictionary, 2nd ed., Oxford: Oxford University Press
  3. ^ a b c d e f g h i Georges, Karl Ernst (1913–1918), Ausführliches lateinisch-deutsches Handwörterbuch, 8th ed., ed. Heinrich Georges, Hannover; Leipzig: Hahn
  4. ^ a b c d e de Vaan, Michiel (2008), Etymological Dictionary of Latin and the other Italic Languages, Leiden Indo-European Etymological Dictionary Series 7, Leiden; Boston: Brill
  5. ^ a b c Harper, Douglas. Online Etymology Dictionary, https://www.etymonline.com
  6. ^ a b c d e f Lewis, Charlton T.; Short, Charles (1879), A Latin Dictionary, Oxford: Clarendon Press
  7. ^ a b c d Köbler, Gerhard (2010), Lateinisches Abkunfts- und Wirkungswörterbuch für Altertum und Mittelalter, online ed., koeblergerhard.de
  8. ^ Stelten, Leo F. (1995), Dictionary of Ecclesiastical Latin, Peabody, Mass.: Hendrickson