tescum

Latin

Alternative forms

tescuum, tesquum

Etymology

Uncertain and lacking agreement on the precise meaning. Possibly from Proto-Indo-European *ters- (“dry”), with regular simplification of *-rs- > /s/ before a voiceless consonant (compare testis). Compare pāscuum for the formation. The c in the plural is likely to be analogical after the regular /kʷum > kum/ in the singular. A connection with Proto-Indo-European *tews- (“to be empty”), the source of Sanskrit तुच्छ (tuccha, “empty”), is rejected by De Vaan, who mentions Dunkel's proposal that teskʷ- is derived by dissimilation from twes-kʷ- but points out that *twes- is not an ablaut grade of this root.^[1]

Pronunciation

(Classical Latin) IPA^(key): /ˈtes.kum/, [ˈt̪ɛs̠kʊ̃ˑ]
(modern Italianate Ecclesiastical) IPA^(key): /ˈtes.kum/, [ˈt̪ɛskum]

Noun

tescum n (genitive tescī); second declension

(chiefly in the plural) wilderness, wasteland, desert

Declension

Second-declension noun (neuter).

	singular	plural
nominative	tescum	tesca
genitive	tescī	tescōrum
dative	tescō	tescīs
accusative	tescum	tesca
ablative	tescō	tescīs
vocative	tescum	tesca

References

^ De Vaan, Michiel (2008) “tescum”, in Etymological Dictionary of Latin and the other Italic Languages (Leiden Indo-European Etymological Dictionary Series; 7), Leiden, Boston: Brill, →ISBN, page 617:
The connection with Skt. tucchyá- 'empty' is impossible, since the root has ablaut grade I *teus-. Dunkel 2000b: 21 posits *tu̯es-kʷo-, which would have yielded *teskʷo- by dissimilation of the first labial glide; but the ablaut and the meaning make a connection with *teus- difficult. Alternatively, one might think of *ters-kwo- to torreō, that is, 'arid soil' vel sim.

[1] De Vaan, Michiel (2008) “tescum”, in Etymological Dictionary of Latin and the other Italic Languages (Leiden Indo-European Etymological Dictionary Series; 7), Leiden, Boston: Brill, →ISBN, page 617:
The connection with Skt. tucchyá- 'empty' is impossible, since the root has ablaut grade I *teus-. Dunkel 2000b: 21 posits *tu̯es-kʷo-, which would have yielded *teskʷo- by dissimilation of the first labial glide; but the ablaut and the meaning make a connection with *teus- difficult. Alternatively, one might think of *ters-kwo- to torreō, that is, 'arid soil' vel sim.

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