Tarraco

See also: Tárraco and Tàrraco

Latin

Alternative forms

• Tarracōn

Etymology

Uncertain. According to William Smith, possibly of Phoenician origin, from [script needed] (tarchon, “citadel, high rock”), referring to the location above the sea. However, compare the names Tarquinia and Tarracina.

Catalan folk etymology derived the name from Tarraho, son of the biblical figure Tubal. Strabo and Megasthenes linked the name to Tearcon, a pharaoh who had campaigned in Spain.

Pronunciation

• (Classical Latin) IPA^(key): /ˈtar.ra.koː/, [ˈt̪ärːäkoː]
• (modern Italianate Ecclesiastical) IPA^(key): /ˈtar.ra.ko/, [ˈt̪ärːäko]

Proper noun

Tarracō f sg (genitive Tarracōnis); third declension

1. Tarragona (city and Roman provincial capital in Spain)

Declension

Third-declension noun, with locative, singular only.

	singular
nominative	Tarracō
genitive	Tarracōnis
dative	Tarracōnī
accusative	Tarracōnem
ablative	Tarracōne
vocative	Tarracō
locative	Tarracōnī Tarracōne

Derived terms

• Hispānia Tarracōnēnsis
• Tarracēnsēs, Tarragēnsēs
• Tarracōnēnsis

Descendants

• Navarro-Aragonese: Tarragona
  • Aragonese: Tarragona
  • → Spanish: Tarragona
• Italian: Tarracona (earlier)
  • Italian: Tarragona
• Old Catalan: Tarragona, Terragona
  • Catalan: Tarragona
• → Catalan: Tàrraco
• → Portuguese: Tárraco
• Sicilian: Tarraguna
• → Spanish: Tárraco

References

• “Tarraco”, in Charlton T. Lewis and Charles Short (1879) A Latin Dictionary, Oxford: Clarendon Press
• Tarraco in Gaffiot, Félix (1934) Dictionnaire illustré latin-français, Hachette.