tiro Latin · revision 31664

+ {{infobox|confidence=unknown|attested=81–43 BC, Cicero}}

+

+ ==Pronunciation==

+ * Classical: [ˈtiː.roː]^(Wiktionary)

+ * Ecclesiastical: [ˈtiː.ro]^(Wiktionary)

+

+ ==Forms==

+ '''tīrō''' ''m'' (genitive tīrōnis); third declension^(Wiktionary)

+

+ ==Etymology==

+ The origin is unknown.^(OLD 2012)^(Etymonline)^(Wiktionary) Köbler, after Walde and Hofmann, takes it as probably borrowed from [[grc|*τείρων|tr=*teírōn]], an unattested form.^(Köbler 2010) Wiktionary reports Ostler's suggestion of an unattested Etruscan source and a recent proposal deriving it from [[triō]], with an original sense “young ox”, which it calls far-fetched.^(Wiktionary)

+

+ ==Earliest recorded meaning==

+ Köbler's first source is Cicero,^(Köbler 2010) who says of himself “when I was a recruit in his army” and calls new soldiers “the flower of Italy”.^(OLD 2012)

+

+ ==Semantic evolution==

+ A military word for a newly enlisted soldier, as in Caesar's “legion of recruits”, it was also used almost as an adjective (''tīrōnēs mīlitēs'').^(OLD 2012)^(Lewis & Short 1879) Cicero already applies it to a novice gladiator, and it spread to any beginner in an art or occupation;^(OLD 2012) Horace uses it of young men who have just put on the toga of manhood.^(OLD 2012) Church Latin glosses it “beginner, recruit, novice”.^(Stelten 1995)

+

+ In Medieval Latin it was a household knight without a fief, and a champion in single combat.^(Niermeyer 1976) The medieval spelling ''tyro'' gave English [[m|en|tyro]] “beginner” in the 1610s; Ælfric's vocabulary had glossed the word with Old English ''iungwiga''.^(Etymonline) It is also the cognomen of Cicero's freedman and secretary Marcus Tullius Tiro.^(OLD 2012)^(Lewis & Short 1879)

+

+ ==Timeline==

+ * 81–43 BC – Cicero of recruits and of a novice gladiator.^(OLD 2012)^(Köbler 2010)

+ * c. 50 BC – Caesar's legions of recruits.^(Lewis & Short 1879)^(Köbler 2010)

+ * 65–8 BC – Horace of young men just come of age.^(OLD 2012)^(Köbler 2010)

+ * Medieval Latin – a household knight; a champion.^(Niermeyer 1976)

+ * 1610s – English [[m|en|tyro]].^(Etymonline)

+

+ ==Meanings==

+ ===Noun===

+ # A newly enlisted soldier, [[m|en|recruit]]; used almost as an adjective, newly enlisted.^(OLD 2012)^(Lewis & Short 1879)^(Wiktionary)

+ # A [[m|en|novice]], [[m|en|beginner]] in any activity; a young man just come of age.^(OLD 2012)^(Wiktionary)^(Stelten 1995)

+ # ''(Medieval Latin)'' A household [[m|en|knight]] holding no fief; a [[m|en|champion]] in single combat.^(Niermeyer 1976)

+

+ ==Word family==

+ * [[tīrōcinium]]

+ * [[tironatus]]

+ * [[tīrunculus]]

+

+ ==Related words==

+ * [[en|tyro]]

+

+ ==References==

+ {{reflist}}