tuus

Forms

tuus (feminine tua, neuter tuum); first/second-declension determiner, with locative^[1]

Etymology

It is inherited from Proto-Italic *towos (“your”), inherited from Proto-Indo-European *tewos, the possessive of tū.^[2][1][3] In early drama the ⟨tu-⟩ sometimes merged with a following long vowel into one syllable.^[3]

Cognate with Oscan tuvai, Sanskrit त्व (tvá) and Doric τεός (teós).^[2][3]

Earliest recorded meaning

It is found from Livius Andronicus on;^[2] Plautus has tuos est servus “he is your slave”.^[4]

Semantic evolution

Besides plain possession (“your, yours”), tuus means “dear to you” (with names of friends and relatives), “at your command”, “typical of you”, “your duty” (tuum est “it is up to you”), and “devoted to you”.^[3][4]

Timeline

• c. 280–200 BC – First found in Livius Andronicus.^[2]
• c. 250–184 BC – Plautus uses haud tuom istuc est, “that is not like you”.^[3][5]
• 190–159 BC – Terence: tuos est nunc Chremēs, “Chremes is on your side now”.^[3][5]

Meanings

Determiner

1. your, yours (singular), thy.^[3][4]
2. Dear to you; devoted to you.^[3]
3. Typical of you;^[3] tuum est, it is your duty.^[3]

Related words

• tū
• suus
• meus
• vester

References

1. ^ a b c d Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
2. ^ a b c d de Vaan, Michiel (2008), Etymological Dictionary of Latin and the other Italic Languages, Leiden Indo-European Etymological Dictionary Series 7, Leiden; Boston: Brill
3. ^ a b c d e f g h i j Glare, P. G. W., ed. (2012), Oxford Latin Dictionary, 2nd ed., Oxford: Oxford University Press
4. ^ a b c Lewis, Charlton T.; Short, Charles (1879), A Latin Dictionary, Oxford: Clarendon Press
5. ^ a b Köbler, Gerhard (2010), Lateinisches Abkunfts- und Wirkungswörterbuch für Altertum und Mittelalter, online ed., koeblergerhard.de