torpeo Latin · revision 5509
16 Oct 2026, 02:50 by bogdan “New Latin entry (sources: de Vaan, OLD, Lewis & Short, TLL...)” current version
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+ {{infobox|confidence=established|formation=inherited|attested=Plautus|origins=ine-pro *terp-}}
+
+ ==Pronunciation==
+ * IPA (Classical): [ˈtɔr.pe.oː]^(Wiktionary)
+ * IPA (Ecclesiastical): [ˈtɔr.pe.o]^(Wiktionary)
+
+ ==Forms==
+ '''torpeō''' (present infinitive torpēre, perfect active torpuī); second conjugation, no passive, no supine stem^(Wiktionary)
+
+ ==Etymology==
+ It is [[inh|itc-pro|*torpē-|t=to be stiff]], [[inh|ine-pro|*tr̥p-éh₁-|t=to be stiff]], a stative verb.^(de Vaan 2008)^(Wiktionary) Cognate with [[lt|tir̃pti|t=to grow numb]], [[cu|трьпѣти|tr=trъpěti|t=to suffer]] and [[ang|þeorf|t=unleavened]].^(de Vaan 2008)^(OLD 2012)
+
+ ==Earliest recorded meaning==
+ De Vaan dates it from Plautus, where Sosia says “I am afraid, I am numb all over”.^(de Vaan 2008)^(OLD 2012) Köbler dates Plautus c. 250–184 BC.^(Köbler 2010)
+
+ ==Semantic evolution==
+ It meant to be physically numb, as stags numbed under fresh snow in Virgil or bodies stiff with cold in Livy, and to be struck motionless by fear or wonder.^(OLD 2012) It was also to be sluggish or lethargic and, figuratively, inactive or slothful, as Cicero says of a god who rests idle.^(OLD 2012)
+
+ Its derivatives gave English words: [[torpor]] “numbness” gave [[en|torpor]], [[torpidus]] gave [[en|torpid]] in the 1610s, and [[torpēdō]] “numbness”, then the electric ray that numbs, gave [[en|torpedo]] in the 1520s.^(Etymonline) The verb survives in [[it|torpere]].^(Wiktionary)
+
+ ==Timeline==
+ * c. 250–184 BC – Plautus has Sosia numb with fear.^(OLD 2012)^(Köbler 2010)
+ * 70–19 BC – Virgil describes stags numbed under snow.^(OLD 2012)^(Köbler 2010)
+ * 1520s – English ''torpedo'' is recorded for the electric ray.^(Etymonline)
+ * 1610s – English ''torpid'' is recorded.^(Etymonline)
+
+ ==Meanings==
+ ===Verb===
+ # To be [[m|en|numb]].^(OLD 2012)
+ # To be [[m|en|paralysed]] (with fear or wonder).^(OLD 2012)
+ # To be sluggish, [[m|en|lethargic]].^(OLD 2012)
+ # To be inactive, idle.^(OLD 2012)
+
+ ==Word family==
+ * [[torpēdō]]
+ * [[torpefaciō]]
+ * [[torpidus]]
+ * [[torpor]]
+ * [[torpēscō]]
+ * [[obtorpeō]]
+
+ ==Related words==
+ * [[torpōrō]]
+ * [[en|torpor]]
+ * [[en|torpid]]
+ * [[en|torpedo]]
+
+ ==References==
+ {{reflist}}