Etymologically
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tyrius

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Pronunciation

  • Classical: [ˈty.ri.ʊs][1]
  • Ecclesiastical: [ˈtiː.ri.us][1]

Forms

tyrius (feminine tyria, neuter tyrium); first/second-declension adjective[1]

Etymology

It is borrowed from Ancient Greek Τύριος (Týrios, “Tyrian”),[2] the adjective of the city name Tyrus, Tyre.[3][2]

Earliest recorded meaning

Catullus speaks of a couch dyed with Tyrian purple: Tyrio in toro “on the Tyrian couch”.[4][2]

Semantic evolution

The word meant “of Tyre”, and above all it described the crimson dye made there and the cloth coloured with it.[4] Horace pairs Cyprian and Tyrian wares, and Virgil has fleeces steeped in Tyrian red.[4]

Because Tyre founded colonies, the poets used it for Thebes, founded by Cadmus, and for Carthage: Statius calls Polynices the Tyrian exile, and Silius Italicus calls Hamilcar the Tyrian leader.[4] As a noun, Tyrii were the people of Tyre, from Livy on.[2]

Timeline

  • 81/79–52/50 BC – Catullus uses it of cloth dyed with Tyrian purple.[4][2]
  • 70–19 BC – Virgil uses it of the Tyrian red dye.[4][2]
  • 65–8 BC – Horace speaks of Tyrian merchandise.[4][2]
  • 59 BC–AD 17 – Livy uses Tyrii for the people of Tyre.[2]
  • 25–101 – Silius Italicus calls a Carthaginian commander Tyrian.[4][2]

Meanings

Adjective

  1. Of or belonging to Tyre, Tyrian.[4][3]
  2. Of the crimson dye made at Tyre, or of the shellfish that gives it.[4]
  3. Of cloth or garments: dyed with Tyrian purple, crimson.[4]
  4. (poetic) Theban, after Cadmus of Tyre, the founder of Thebes.[4]
  5. (poetic) Carthaginian, Carthage being a colony of Tyre.[4]

Noun

  1. (plural) Tyrii, the people of Tyre.[2]

Usage notes

The Oxford Latin Dictionary heads the word with a capital, Tyrius.[4]

References

  1. ^ a b c Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
  2. ^ a b c d e f g h i j Köbler, Gerhard (2010), Lateinisches Abkunfts- und Wirkungswörterbuch für Altertum und Mittelalter, online ed., koeblergerhard.de
  3. ^ a b Lewis, Charlton T.; Short, Charles (1879), A Latin Dictionary, Oxford: Clarendon Press
  4. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m n Glare, P. G. W., ed. (2012), Oxford Latin Dictionary, 2nd ed., Oxford: Oxford University Press