tectum

See also: tecum

English

WOTD – 11 May 2006

Etymology

From Latin tēctum (“roof”), from tegō (“I cover”), cognate with Ancient Greek τέγος (tégos, “roof; any covered room of a house”). Doublet of tect.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /ˈtɛk.təm/

• Audio (US):

  (file)

Noun

tectum (plural tecta)

1. (neuroanatomy) The dorsal portion of the midbrain of vertebrates; in mammals, containing the superior colliculus and inferior colliculus
2. The interconnected outer surface of a spore.

Derived terms

• infratectum

See also

• tegmentum
• periaqueductal grey

References

• Bear et al. Neuroscience, Exploring the Brain Co. 2001, Lippincot Williams and Wilkins
• “tectum”, in OneLook Dictionary Search.

Latin

Etymology

From tegō (“I cover”), cognate with Ancient Greek τέγος (tégos, “roof; any covered room of a house”).

If cognacy with Umbrian tettome (acc. sg. with postposition) is accepted, one can reconstruct Proto-Italic *tektom.

Pronunciation

• (Classical Latin) IPA^(key): /ˈteːk.tum/, [ˈt̪eːkt̪ʊ̃ˑ]
• (modern Italianate Ecclesiastical) IPA^(key): /ˈtek.tum/, [ˈt̪ɛkt̪um]

Noun

tēctum n (genitive tēctī); second declension

1. roof, ceiling
2. canopy
3. refuge, shelter

   Synonyms: perfugium, asȳlum, refugium, receptāculum, latebra, dēverticulum

4. (figuratively) house, dwelling, abode

   Synonyms: domus, domicilium, habitātiō

Declension

Second-declension noun (neuter).

	singular	plural
nominative	tēctum	tēcta
genitive	tēctī	tēctōrum
dative	tēctō	tēctīs
accusative	tēctum	tēcta
ablative	tēctō	tēctīs
vocative	tēctum	tēcta

Derived terms

• tēctulum

Related terms

• tēctūra
• tegō

Descendants

• Aragonese: teito
• Asturian: techu, teitu, teichu, tichu, techo, texu
• Corsican: tettu
• Dalmatian: tiát
• English: tect, tectum
• Franco-Provençal: têt
• French: toit
• Friulian: tet
• Galician: teito
• Guinea-Bissau Creole: tetu
• Italian: tetto
• Ladin: tet
• Lombard: tecc, teit
• Occitan: tech
• Old French: toit, teit
• Old Galician-Portuguese: teito
• Piedmontese: tèit
• → Portuguese: teto
• Romansch: tetg, tet
• Sicilian: tettu
• Spanish: techo
• Walloon: toet

References

• “tectum”, in Charlton T. Lewis and Charles Short (1879) A Latin Dictionary, Oxford: Clarendon Press
• “tectum”, in Charlton T. Lewis (1891) An Elementary Latin Dictionary, New York: Harper & Brothers
• tactum in Dizionario Latino, Olivetti.
• tectum 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)
• Carl Meißner, Henry William Auden (1894) Latin Phrase-Book‎^[1], London: Macmillan and Co.
  • to enter the house: tectum subire