tippula

(This etymology is missing or incomplete. Please add to it, or discuss it at the Etymology scriptorium.)

• (Classical) IPA^(key): /ˈtip.pu.la/, [ˈt̪ɪpːʊɫ̪ä]
• (modern Italianate Ecclesiastical) IPA^(key): /ˈtip.pu.la/, [ˈt̪ipːulä]

tippula f (genitive tippulae); first declension

1. an insect running across the surface of the water, a pond-skater; a water spider
   • c. 197 BCE, Plautus, Persa 2.2.62:

     noui: omnes sunt lenae leuifidae, nec tippulae leuius pondust quam fides lenonia.

     I know: all procuresses are untrustworthy, and a water spider has more weight than a procuress’s promise.

First-declension noun.

• “tippula”, in Charlton T. Lewis and Charles Short (1879) A Latin Dictionary, Oxford: Clarendon Press