tergeo Latin · revision 5827

+ {{infobox|confidence=uncertain|attested=Plautus}}

+

+ ==Pronunciation==

+ * IPA (Classical): [ˈtɛr.ɡe.oː]^(Wiktionary)

+ * IPA (Ecclesiastical): [ˈtɛr.d͡ʒe.o]^(Wiktionary)

+

+ ==Forms==

+ '''tergeō''' (present infinitive tergēre, perfect active tersī, supine tersum); second conjugation^(Wiktionary)

+

+ ==Etymology==

+ Its origin is uncertain.^(de Vaan 2008)^(Wiktionary)^(OLD 2012) Within Italic, [[mantēle]] “towel” comes from *manu-terg-slo- “hand-wiper”, and [[xum|mantraklu|t=towel?]] may be related.^(de Vaan 2008)^(OLD 2012) A link with [[sa|तृंहति|tr=tr̥ṃhati|t=crushes]] from *(s)terǵʰ- is uncertain, since that root may have had /l/.^(de Vaan 2008) Both a second-conjugation [[m|la|tergēre]] and a third-conjugation [[m|la|tergere]] are found, the first being commoner.^(OLD 2012)^(de Vaan 2008)

+

+ ==Earliest recorded meaning==

+ De Vaan dates it from Plautus, whose pimp orders everything to be found ready, swept, sprinkled and wiped.^(de Vaan 2008)^(OLD 2012) Köbler dates Plautus c. 250–184 BC.^(Köbler 2010)

+

+ ==Semantic evolution==

+ It meant to rub clean, wipe or polish, as furniture and weapons, and to wipe off or away, as Ovid's Hymen wiping thick balm from his hair.^(OLD 2012) It also meant to rub against, stimulate, as Horace's peacock that tickles the palate better than a hen.^(OLD 2012) Cicero speaks of slaves ''quī tergent'', who wipe and polish.^(Gaffiot 2016)

+

+ Its participle ''tersus'' meant “clean, neat”, and of style “terse, polished”, the source of [[en|terse]].^(Wiktionary) ''Dētergēre'' “to wipe away” gave [[en|detergent]] in the 1610s.^(Etymonline)

+

+ ==Timeline==

+ * c. 250–184 BC – Plautus orders everything wiped clean.^(OLD 2012)^(Köbler 2010)

+ * 81–43 BC – Cicero speaks of slaves who wipe and polish.^(Gaffiot 2016)^(Köbler 2010)

+ * 65–8 BC – Horace speaks of tickling the palate.^(OLD 2012)^(Köbler 2010)

+ * 1610s – English ''detergent'' is recorded.^(Etymonline)

+

+ ==Meanings==

+ ===Verb===

+ # To [[m|en|wipe]], rub clean, [[m|en|polish]].^(OLD 2012)

+ # To wipe off, wipe away.^(OLD 2012)

+ # To rub against; to stimulate (the palate).^(OLD 2012)

+

+ ==Word family==

+ * [[abstergeō]]

+ * [[circumtergeō]]

+ * [[dētergeō]]

+ * [[extergeō]]

+ * [[pertergeō]]

+ * [[retergeō]]

+ * [[tersus]]

+ * [[facitergium]]

+ * [[manutergium]]

+ * [[mantēle]]

+ * [[mantēlium]]

+ * [[tersōrium]]

+

+ ==Related words==

+ * [[en|detergent]]

+ * [[en|terse]]

+

+ ==References==

+ {{reflist}}