turris Latin · revision 7502

+ {{infobox|confidence=established|formation=borrowing|attested=Accius|origins=grc τύρρις}}

+

+ ==Pronunciation==

+ * IPA (Classical): [ˈtʊr.rɪs]^(Wiktionary)

+ * IPA (Ecclesiastical): [ˈtur.ris]^(Wiktionary)

+

+ ==Forms==

+ '''turris''' ''f'' (genitive turris); third declension^(Wiktionary)

+

+ ==Etymology==

+ It is [[bor|grc|τύρρις|tr=túrrhis|t=tower]], also ⟨τύρσις⟩, the OLD comparing [[osc|tiurrí]].^(OLD 2012)^(Wiktionary) The Greek word is probably itself a loan from a Mediterranean language.^(Wiktionary)^(Köbler 2010) Wiktionary compares the name [[grc|Τυρρηνός|tr=Turrhēnós|t=Etruscan]].^(Wiktionary) The accusative is ⟨turrim⟩ or ⟨turrem⟩, the ablative ⟨turrī⟩ or ⟨turre⟩.^(OLD 2012)^(Lewis & Short 1879)

+

+ ==Earliest recorded meaning==

+ The OLD's earliest citation is from Accius, of a tower.^(OLD 2012) Köbler's first source is Plautus, whom he dates c. 250–184 BC.^(Köbler 2010)

+

+ ==Semantic evolution==

+ It meant a tower, part of a building or standing alone, and in Ovid a dovecote.^(OLD 2012)^(Lewis & Short 1879) In war it was a wooden tower for missiles, rolled against a town or set on walls, as in Caesar, or on ships, as in Livy.^(OLD 2012)^(Gaffiot 2016) In Varro it meant the castle on an elephant's back, and in Cato a square formation of troops.^(OLD 2012)

+

+ In Ecclesiastical Latin it meant a tower or tabernacle.^(Stelten 1995) Medieval Latin used it for a keep, a fortified house in a city, and a tower-shaped pyx.^(Niermeyer 1976) It survives in Italian, Spanish and Portuguese ''torre'' and French ''tour'', and Old English borrowed it as ''torr'', whence [[en|tower]].^(Wiktionary)^(Etymonline)

+

+ ==Timeline==

+ * c. 250–184 BC – Plautus uses it of a tower.^(Köbler 2010)^(Lewis & Short 1879)

+ * 234–149 BC – Cato uses it of a square formation of troops.^(OLD 2012)^(Köbler 2010)

+ * c. 50 BC – Caesar uses it of siege towers.^(OLD 2012)^(Köbler 2010)

+ * 59 BC–17 AD – Livy uses it of towers on ships.^(OLD 2012)^(Köbler 2010)

+

+ ==Meanings==

+ ===Noun===

+ # A [[m|en|tower]]; a dovecote.^(OLD 2012)

+ # ''(military)'' A wooden siege or defence tower.^(OLD 2012)

+ # The castle on an elephant's back, a [[m|en|howdah]].^(OLD 2012)

+ # A square battle formation.^(OLD 2012)

+ # ''(Medieval Latin)'' A [[m|en|keep]]; a fortified town house; a tower-shaped [[m|en|pyx]].^(Niermeyer 1976)

+

+ ==Word family==

+ * [[turricula]]

+ * [[turrifer]]

+ * [[turriger]]

+ * [[turrītus]]

+ * [[interturrium]]

+

+ ==Related words==

+ * [[en|tower]]

+ * [[en|turret]]

+

+ ==References==

+ {{reflist}}