testudo Latin · revision 31670

+ {{infobox|confidence=probable|formation=derivation|attested=220–130 BC, Pacuvius|origins=la testa}}

+

+ ==Pronunciation==

+ * Classical: [tɛsˈtuː.doː]^(Wiktionary)

+ * Ecclesiastical: [tesˈtuː.do]^(Wiktionary)

+

+ ==Forms==

+ '''testūdō''' ''f'' (genitive testūdinis); third declension^(Wiktionary)

+

+ ==Etymology==

+ It is formed from [[testū|t=earthenware pot]] or [[testa|t=pot, shell]], with the ending of [[hirūdō|t=leech]].^(OLD 2012)^(Köbler 2010) Varro already connected it with ⟨testa⟩.^(OLD 2012) De Vaan lists it under ⟨testa⟩, which he takes to be probably a loanword, as words for vessels often are; a derivation from [[ine-pro|*teḱ-|t=to build]] is unlikely.^(de Vaan 2008)

+

+ ==Earliest recorded meaning==

+ Lewis and Short cite it first from Pacuvius, quoted by Cicero;^(Lewis & Short 1879) de Vaan and Köbler date it from Lucilius, and Plautus already has the adjective [[testūdineus|t=of tortoise-shell]].^(de Vaan 2008)^(Köbler 2010)

+

+ ==Semantic evolution==

+ It is the tortoise or turtle: Cicero describes turtles burying their eggs on land.^(OLD 2012) Its shell served as the sounding board of the lyre, so that it also meant the lyre, as when Virgil's Orpheus consoles his love with the hollow shell; tortoiseshell was also a material for overlaying couches.^(OLD 2012) In war it was the “tortoise” of troops locking their shields over their heads, as in Caesar, and a movable wooden shed for siege work, already in Lucilius.^(OLD 2012) In building it was a roof of four sides meeting at a point, or a vault, and in Vitruvius part of a bath's heating system.^(OLD 2012)^(Wiktionary)

+

+ Church Latin glosses it “tortoise”.^(Stelten 1995)

+

+ ==Timeline==

+ * 220–130 BC – Pacuvius of a tortoise.^(Lewis & Short 1879)^(Köbler 2010)

+ * c. 180–102 BC – Lucilius of a siege shed.^(OLD 2012)^(Köbler 2010)

+ * 120–67 BC – Sisenna of a roof.^(OLD 2012)^(Köbler 2010)

+ * c. 50 BC – Caesar of the shield formation.^(OLD 2012)^(Köbler 2010)

+ * 70–19 BC – Virgil of the lyre.^(OLD 2012)^(Köbler 2010)

+

+ ==Meanings==

+ ===Noun===

+ # A [[m|en|tortoise]] or [[m|en|turtle]].^(OLD 2012)^(Lewis & Short 1879)^(Wiktionary)^(Stelten 1995)

+ # Tortoiseshell; a [[m|en|lyre]]; the shell of other creatures.^(OLD 2012)^(Wiktionary)

+ # ''(military)'' A screen of locked shields; a movable shed for siege work.^(OLD 2012)^(Wiktionary)

+ # ''(architecture)'' A roof with four sloping sides; a [[m|en|vault]]; part of a bath's heating.^(OLD 2012)^(Wiktionary)

+

+ ==Word family==

+ * [[testūdinātus]]

+ * [[testūdineus]]

+ * [[testūdineātus]]

+

+ ==Related words==

+ * [[testa]]

+ * [[testāceus]]

+ * [[testātim]]

+ * [[testeus]]

+ * [[testū]]

+ * [[testuātium]]

+ * [[testula]]

+

+ ==References==

+ {{reflist}}