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) 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).

Case	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.

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[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.