tritus Latin · revision 34109

+ {{infobox|confidence=established|formation=derivation|attested=81–43 BC, Cicero|origins=ine-pro *terh₁-}}

+

+ ==Forms==

+ '''trītus''' (feminine trīta, neuter trītum; comparative trītior, superlative trītissimus); first/second-declension adjective^(OLD 2012)^(Georges 1913)

+

+ ==Etymology==

+ Used as an adjective, it is the past participle [[der|la|terō|t=to rub]].^(OLD 2012)^(Georges 1913)^(Bianchi & Lelli 2014) De Vaan traces the verb to [[itc-pro|*tera-|t=to rub]] and [[ine-pro|*terh₁-|t=to rub]], and explains the ⟨ī⟩ of the participle and perfect from a form [[ine-pro|*treh₁-i-]];^(de Vaan 2008) cognates include [[grc|τείρω|tr=teírō|t=to oppress, distress]], [[m|grc|τρίβω|tr=trī́bō|t=to rub, wear out]], [[lt|tìrti|t=to investigate]] and [[goh|drāen|t=to turn]].^(de Vaan 2008)

+

+ ==Earliest recorded meaning==

+ Köbler records it first in Cicero,^(Köbler 2010) who calls the road to Greece well-trodden and speaks of words not current at Rome, ''verba nōn trīta Rōmae''.^(OLD 2012)^(Gaffiot 2016)

+

+ ==Semantic evolution==

+ From “rubbed” it means worn by friction: Propertius uses it of a window, Seneca of farmers' hands,^(OLD 2012) and Horace of a threadbare undershirt.^(OLD 2012)^(Conte 2010) Of roads it means well-trodden, beaten, in Cicero, Catullus and Ovid.^(OLD 2012) Figuratively it is what is in constant use, familiar or common;^(OLD 2012) Cicero proposes to make a word more familiar by using it,^(OLD 2012) and he has a proverb that is ''trītum sermōne'', “common in speech”.^(Georges 1913) Of people and their faculties it means practised: Cicero writes of ears so practised by reading that they can tell whether a line is by Plautus, and Vitruvius writes of hands practised in building.^(OLD 2012) Ulpian uses it of slaves set in their ways, and Pliny the Elder calls the cheapest kind of ''lōmentum'' ''trītum'', “ground”.^(OLD 2012) Italian ''trito'' continues it.^(Conte 2010)

+

+ ==Timeline==

+ * 81–43 BC – Cicero uses it of a well-trodden road and of words in common use.^(OLD 2012)^(Köbler 2010)

+ * 81/79–52/50 BC – Catullus uses it of a worn threshold.^(OLD 2012)^(Köbler 2010)

+ * 65–8 BC – Horace uses it of threadbare clothes.^(OLD 2012)^(Conte 2010)^(Köbler 2010)

+ * c. 84–c. 25 BC – Vitruvius uses it of practised hands.^(OLD 2012)^(Köbler 2010)

+ * 23/24–79 AD – Pliny the Elder uses it in the sense “ground”.^(OLD 2012)^(Köbler 2010)

+

+ ==Meanings==

+ ===Adjective===

+ # Worn by rubbing;^(OLD 2012)^(Georges 1913)^(Conte 2010) (of clothes) worn, [[m|en|threadbare]];^(OLD 2012)^(Georges 1913)^(Conte 2010) (of roads) well-trodden, beaten.^(OLD 2012)^(Georges 1913)^(Conte 2010)

+ # In constant use, familiar, common;^(OLD 2012)^(Gaffiot 2016)^(Simpson 1959) (of words) in common use, [[m|en|trite]].^(OLD 2012)^(Gaffiot 2016)^(Simpson 1959)

+ # (of people, faculties) [[m|en|experienced|alt=Experienced]], practised; inured.^(OLD 2012)^(Bianchi & Lelli 2014)

+ # Ground, powdered.^(OLD 2012)

+

+ ==Related words==

+ * [[terō]]

+ * [[trītūra]]

+ * [[atterō]]

+

+ ==Usage notes==

+ A separate noun ''trītus'', ''-ūs'' (masculine), “rubbing, friction”, occurs only in the ablative: Cicero writes of stones struck and rubbed together, ''lapidum conflīctū atque trītū''.^(OLD 2012)^(Lewis & Short 1879)^(Conte 2010) Medieval ''tritus'', “third”, is a different word, from [[trēs]].^(Köbler 2010)

+

+ ==References==

+ {{reflist}}