tergum

English

Etymology

Borrowed from Latin tergum (“back, rear; surface”).

Noun

tergum (plural terga)

1. (entomology) The upper or dorsal surface of an articulated animal such as an arthropod.

Derived terms

• tergal

Related terms

• tergite

Latin

Alternative forms

• tergus, tegus

Etymology

Unknown. De Vaan is skeptical of the proposal that it originally referred to the hair on an animal's back and was derived from a Proto-Indo-European *(s)ter- (“to be stiff”) (compare *tr̥nós, *sterbʰ-). It has been speculated to be connected to one or more of Ancient Greek τράχηλος (trákhēlos, “neck”), Ancient Greek τρέχω (trékhō), or Latin trahō, with a debated connection to the root of English drag, draw.

Pronunciation

• (Classical Latin) IPA^(key): /ˈter.ɡum/, [ˈt̪ɛrɡʊ̃ˑ]
• (modern Italianate Ecclesiastical) IPA^(key): /ˈter.ɡum/, [ˈt̪ɛrɡum]

Noun

tergum n (genitive tergī); second declension

1. back, rear; surface

   tergum/terga vertere ― be on the run, to escape

Declension

Second-declension noun (neuter).

	singular	plural
nominative	tergum	terga
genitive	tergī	tergōrum
dative	tergō	tergīs
accusative	tergum	terga
ablative	tergō	tergīs
vocative	tergum	terga

Derived terms

• terga vertere

Descendants

• Italian: tergo

Further reading

• “tergum”, in Charlton T. Lewis and Charles Short (1879) A Latin Dictionary, Oxford: Clarendon Press
• “tergum”, in Charlton T. Lewis (1891) An Elementary Latin Dictionary, New York: Harper & Brothers
• tergum in Charles du Fresne du Cange’s Glossarium Mediæ et Infimæ Latinitatis (augmented edition with additions by D. P. Carpenterius, Adelungius and others, edited by Léopold Favre, 1883–1887)
• tergum in Gaffiot, Félix (1934) Dictionnaire illustré latin-français, Hachette.
• Carl Meißner, Henry William Auden (1894) Latin Phrase-Book‎^[1], London: Macmillan and Co.
  • to flee, run away: terga vertere or dare
    
  • to run away from the enemy: terga dare hosti
    
  • (ambiguous) to attack the enemy in the rear: hostes a tergo adoriri
    
  • (ambiguous) to surround the enemy from the rear: circumvenire hostem aversum or a tergo (B. G. 2. 26)
    
• Dizionario Latino, Olivetti