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The corpus record — Latin

tergum

tergum

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Generated live from the audited Latin corpus — every figure on this page is a database query, not prose from memory.

Where it lives

Densest 12 of 168 attested works shown, by occurrences per 10,000 attested tokens.

What it meant

1. tergum — de Vaan

tergum 'back' [n. o] (P1.+) Derivatives: tergus, -oris [n.] (Enn,+), tergmum 'raw-hide whip' (P1.+), tergiversan 'to show reluctance' (Sis.+). WH and IEW interpret tergum as *terg-o-, from a root *(s)ter- 'to be stiff with a suffix *-g-. The underlying assumption is that tergum originally indicated the stiff hair on the back of animals (IEW). This, however, is not supported by any evidence. Thus, the etymology … — [de Vaan, s.v. tergum, p. 629]

2. tergum — Lewis & Short

tergum, i (poet. and in post-Aug. prose also tergus, ŏris), n. (

I masc.: familiarem tergum, Plaut. As. 2, 2, 53; cf. Non. 227, 23) [cf. Gr. tra/xhlos, neck; perh. root tre/xw, to run], the back of men or beasts (syn. dor sum).
I Lit.
(a) Form tergum: dabitur pol supplicium mihi de tergo vestre, Plaut. As. 2, 4, 75: vae illis virgis miseris quae hodie in tergo morientur meo, id. Capt 3, 4, 117: manibus ad tergum rejectis, Asin ap. Cic. Fam. 10, 32, 3: boum terga, id. N D. 2, 63, 159; cf. tergo poenae pendere Ter. Heaut. 4, 4, 6: tergo ac capite puniri, Liv 3, 55, 14.—Of cranes eaeque in tergo praevolantium Colla reponunt, Cic. N. D. 2 49, 125. — Of the dolphin, Ov F 2, 113.— Of the crocodile: ejus terga cataphracta, Amm. 22, 15, 16.—
(b) Form tergus aurea quam molli tergore vexit ovis, Prop. 2, 26 (3, 21), 6: ut equa facilem sui tergoris ascensum praebeat, Col. 6, 37, 10.—
II Transf.
A The back or hinder part, the back, rear,
1 Esp. in the phrases terga vertere or dare, to turn the back, pregn., for to take to flight, to flee: omnes hostes terga verterunt; neque prius fugere destiterunt, quam, etc., Caes. B. G. 1, 53; so, terga vertere, id. ib. 3, 19; 3, 21; id. B. C. 3, 63; and even of a single person: terga vertit, Sen. Ep. 22, 7: qui plures simul terga dederant, etc., Liv 22, 29, 5: terga dare, id. 36, 38, 4: inter duas acies Etrusci, cum in vicem his atque illis terga darent, id. 2, 51, 9; Ov. M. 13, 224: terga fugae praebere, id. ib. 10, 706: terga praestare (fugae), Tac. Agr 37; Juv. 15, 75. — Trop. jam felicior aetas Terga dedit, tremuloque gradu venit aegra senectus, Ov M. 14, 143.—
2 In gen.: inflexo mox dare terga genu, i. e. yield to the burden, Prop. 3, 9 (4, 8), 6: praebere Phoebo terga, to sun itself, Ov. M. 4, 715: concurrit ex insidiis versisque in Lucretium Etruscis terga caedit, the rear, Liv. 2, 11, 9; Flor. 4, 12, 7: terga Parthorum dicam, the flight, Ov. A. A. 1, 209: terga collis, Liv. 25, 15, 12; cf.: terga vincentium, Tac. Agr. 37: summi plena jam margine libri Scriptus et in tergo necdum finitus Orestes, written on the back, Juv. 1, 6: retro atque a tergo, behind one, Cic. Div. 1, 24, 49; cf.: a tergo, a fronte, a lateribus tenebitur, id. Phil. 3, 13, 32: ut a tergo Milonem adorirentur, behind, id. Mil. 10, 29; 21, 56; id. Verr 2, 5, 38, § 98: tumultum hostilem a tergo accepit, Sall. J. 58, 4; Caes. B. G 7, 87; Curt. 3, 1, 19; 3, 8, 27; 8, 5, 1: post tergum hostium legionem ostenderunt, Caes. B. G. 7, 62: ne nostros post tergum adorirentur, id. B. C. 3, 44: Germani post tergum clamore audito, id. B. G. 4, 15: post tergum hostem relinquere, id. ib. 4, 22: qui jam post terga reliquit Sexaginta annos, has left behind him, has passed, Juv. 13, 16: omnia jam diutino bello exhausta post tergum sunt, Curt. 4, 14, 11: omnia, quae post tergum erant, strata, id. 3, 10, 7: tot amnibus montibusque post tergum objectis, id. 4, 13, 7.—
B The back of any thing spread out horizontally, as land or water, i. e. the surface (poet.): proscisso quae suscitat aequore terga, Verg. G. 1, 97: crassa, id. ib. 2, 236: amnis, Ov. P. 1, 2, 82; Claud. B. G. 338; Luc. 5, 564; 9, 341.—
C (Pars pro toto.) The body of an animal (poet.).
(a) Form tergum: (serpens) Squamea convolvens sublato pectore terga, Verg. G. 3, 426; so of a serpent, id. A. 2, 208; Petr 89; of Cerberus, Verg. A. 6, 422: horrentia centum Terga suum, i. e. a hundred head of swine, id. ib. 1, 635: nigrantis terga juvencos, id. ib. 6, 243: perpetui tergo bovis, id. ib. 8, 183.—
(b) Form tergus: resecat de tergore (suis) partem, of a chine of bacon, Ov. M. 8, 649: diviso tergore (juvenci), Phaedr. 2, 1, 11: squalenti tergore serpens, Sil. 3, 209.—
D The covering of the back, the skin, hide, leather, etc. (in this signif. tergus freq. occurs; syn.: pellis, corium).
(a) Form tergum: taurino quantum possent circumdare tergo, ox-hide, Verg. A. 1, 368: ferre novae nares taurorum terga recusant, Ov. A. A. 2, 655.—
(b) Form tergus: tergora deripiunt costis et viscera nudant, Verg. A. 1, 211; so Cels. 7, 25, 1; 8, 1 med.: durissimum dorso tergus, Plin. 8, 10, 10, § 30; cf. id. 9, 35, 53, § 105; Col. 7, 4 fin.—
2 Transf., a thing made of hide or leather.
(a) Form tergum: venti bovis inclusi tergo, i. e. in a bag made of a bull's hide, Ov. M. 14, 225; 15, 305: et feriunt molles taurea terga manus, i. e. tymbals, id. F. 4, 342; so id. ib. 4, 212: Idae terga, Stat. Th. 8, 221: pulsant terga, id. Achill. 2, 154: rupit Terga novena boum, i. e. the nine thicknesses of bull's hide, Ov. M. 12, 97: tergum Sulmonis, Verg. A. 9, 412; 10, 482; 10, 718; hence even: per linea terga (scuti), id. ib. 10, 784 (v. the passage in connection): duroque intendere bracchia tergo, i. e. cestus, id. ib. 5, 403; so id. ib. 5, 419.—
(b) Form tergus: gestasset laevā taurorum tergora septem, a shield covered with seven layers of hide, Ov. M. 13, 347: Martis tergus Geticum, Mart. 7, 2, 2.

3. tergum — Walde–Hofmann

tergum, -; n., tergus,-oris n. und -? m. „Rücken; Rückseite; Oberfläche; Haut, Fell, Leder“ (seit Enn. und Plaut, vgl. fégus), tergirum, -i n. „Peitsche aus Leder“ (seit Plt, ebenso tergtinus, -a, -um „aus Leder“, vgl. Lohmann Genus 14), tergorö, -äre „bedecke den Rücken“ seit Plin., tergilla, -ae f. „Rückenstück, Schinken“ (Apic., Gl.), Von terga vertere stammt das Komp. tergiversor „kehre den Rücken, suche … — [Walde–Hofmann, s.v. tergum, p. 1578]

In the wild

6 of 1,388 attestations shown.

Where it came from

  • de Vaan, Etymological Dictionary of Latin and the other Italic Languages (Brill 2008) Treated in de Vaan, Etymological Dictionary of Latin and the other Italic Languages (Brill 2008) s.v. tergum (scan pp. 629-630; entry #1796). Root candidates: *derk-, *deik-, *terh2-.
  • Ernout-Meillet, Dictionnaire etymologique de la langue latine Treated in Ernout-Meillet, Dictionnaire etymologique de la langue latine s.v. tergum (scan p. 710; entry #11776).
  • Walde-Hofmann, Lateinisches etymologisches Worterbuch Treated in Walde-Hofmann, Lateinisches etymologisches Worterbuch s.v. tergum (scan p. 1578; entry #2974). Root candidates: *sterbh-, *gter-.

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Latin text and lemmatization derived from the Perseus Digital Library (canonical-latinLit), CC BY-SA 4.0. Lewis & Short (public domain) via Perseus. This derived data is shared under the same CC BY-SA 4.0 license.