tofus Latin · revision 36405

+ {{infobox|confidence=disputed|formation=borrowing|attested=70–19 BC, Virgil}}

+

+ ==Forms==

+ '''tōfus''' ''m'' (genitive tōfī); second declension^(OLD 2012)^(Wiktionary)

+ It is also spelled ''tōphus''.^(OLD 2012)^(Lewis & Short 1879)

+ Köbler also records ''tūfus'' and ''tūffus''.^(Köbler 2010)

+

+ ==Etymology==

+ It is probably [[bor|osc|-]]: de Vaan, Köbler and Wiktionary take it as a loan from a Sabellic (Osco-Umbrian) language because of its ⟨f⟩.^(de Vaan 2008)^(Köbler 2010)^(Wiktionary) De Vaan reconstructs [[itc-pro|*tauf-o-]] with a query and compares [[osc|tavffúd]], if that word means “tufa”.^(de Vaan 2008) Wiktionary adds that it may go back to [[itc-pro|*tūβos]] and [[ine-pro|*tewh₂-|t=to swell]].^(Wiktionary) The OLD instead derives it, probably, from [[ett|tupi]].^(OLD 2012)

+

+ ==Earliest recorded meaning==

+ Its first known use is in Virgil's ''Georgics''.^(de Vaan 2008)^(Lewis & Short 1879)^(Köbler 2010)

+

+ ==Semantic evolution==

+ It is a porous rock of volcanic origin, tufa.^(OLD 2012)^(Georges 1913) Besides Virgil, Lewis & Short cite it from Ovid, Statius, Vitruvius, Pliny the Elder and Frontinus.^(Lewis & Short 1879)

+

+ In medieval British sources it is a soft porous stone, and Gervase of Canterbury describes a vault made of stone and light tufa.^(DMLBS) Lewis & Short give Italian [[m|it|tufo]] as its continuation,^(Lewis & Short 1879) and English [[m|en|tufa]] (1770) comes from Italian ''tufa'', probably from the Latin word.^(Etymonline) Köbler traces Old High German ''tufstein'' and German [[m|de|Tuff]] to it.^(Köbler 2010)

+

+ ==Timeline==

+ * 70–19 BC – Virgil uses it in the ''Georgics''.^(de Vaan 2008)^(Lewis & Short 1879)^(Köbler 2010)

+ * c. 84–c. 25 BC – Vitruvius uses it.^(Lewis & Short 1879)^(Köbler 2010)

+ * 43 BC–18 AD – Ovid uses it.^(Lewis & Short 1879)^(Köbler 2010)

+ * 23/24–79 AD – Pliny the Elder uses it.^(Lewis & Short 1879)^(Köbler 2010)

+ * 1770 – English borrows the Italian word as [[m|en|tufa]].^(Etymonline)

+

+ ==Meanings==

+ ===Noun===

+ # [[m|en|tufa|alt=Tufa]], [[m|en|tuff]], a porous rock of volcanic origin.^(OLD 2012)^(Lewis & Short 1879)^(Wiktionary)

+

+ ==Word family==

+ * [[tōfāceus]]

+ * [[tōficius]]

+ * [[tōfīnus]]

+ * [[tofosus]]

+

+ ==Related words==

+ * [[en|tufa]]

+

+ ==References==

+ {{reflist}}