telum

See also: tělům

Latin

Etymology

Perhaps from Proto-Indo-European *(s)teg- (“beam, stake”) (whence also tignum).

Pronunciation

• (Classical Latin) IPA^(key): [ˈteː.ɫũː]
• (modern Italianate Ecclesiastical) IPA^(key): [ˈtɛː.lum]

Noun

tēlum n (genitive tēlī); second declension

1. a spear (whether used for throwing or thrusting)
2. a missile or projectile weapon: an arrow, javelin, dart etc.
   1. (coupled with arma)
      • 27 BCE – 25 BCE, Titus Livius, Ab urbe condita 29.4:

        Mūnīre urbem, frūmentum convehere, tēla arma parāre.

        To strengthen the city's defences, accumulate stores of corn and prepare a supply of armaments.

3. (general) any weapon
4. a stinger, prickle etc. (of natural weapons of animals and plants)

Declension

Second-declension noun (neuter).

	singular	plural
nominative	tēlum	tēla
genitive	tēlī	tēlōrum
dative	tēlō	tēlīs
accusative	tēlum	tēla
ablative	tēlō	tēlīs
vocative	tēlum	tēla

Derived terms

• prōtēlō

Descendants

• ⇒ Vulgar Latin: *tēlāria (see there for further descendants)
• Borrowings:
  • → Italian: telo

References

• “tēlum” on page 2107 of the Oxford Latin Dictionary (2nd ed., 2012)

Further reading

• “telum”, in Charlton T. Lewis and Charles Short (1879), A Latin Dictionary, Oxford: Clarendon Press
• “telum”, in Charlton T. Lewis (1891), An Elementary Latin Dictionary, New York: Harper & Brothers
• "telum", in Charles du Fresne du Cange, Glossarium Mediæ et Infimæ Latinitatis (augmented edition with additions by D. P. Carpenterius, Adelungius and others, edited by Léopold Favre, 1883–1887)
• “telum”, in Gaffiot, Félix (1934), Dictionnaire illustré latin-français, Hachette.
• Carl Meißner; Henry William Auden (1894), Latin Phrase-Book‎^[1], London: Macmillan and Co.
  • to be armed: cum telo esse
    
  • to be out of range: extra teli iactum, coniectum esse
    
  • to come within javelin-range: ad teli coniectum venire (Liv. 2. 31)
    
  • (ambiguous) to be exposed to the assaults of fate: fortunae telis propositum esse
    
  • (ambiguous) to discharge missiles: tela iacere, conicere, mittere
    
  • (ambiguous) to expose oneself to missiles: se obicere telis
    
  • (ambiguous) to discharge showers of missiles: tela ingerere, conicere