English
turret
Turret comes from Latin turris ‘tower, especially a military tower for siege,…’, and goes back to Ancient Greek τύρσις.
- Ancient Greekc. 800–300 BCEτύρσιςas τύρρις‘tower’
- Latinc. 75 BCE–200 CEturris‘tower, especially a military tower for siege, advanced to the walls on wheels’
- Old Frenchc. 842–1400torete
- Middle Englishc. 1150–1500touret
- Englishearliest quotation 1836turret
attested reconstructed ? uncertain or disputed
Lineage
- Ancient Greekc. 800–300 BCEτύρσιςas τύρρις‘tower’
- Latinc. 75 BCE–200 CEturris‘tower, especially a military tower for siege, advanced to the walls on wheels’
- Old Frenchc. 842–1400torete
- Middle Englishc. 1150–1500touret
- Englishearliest quotation 1836turret
Earliest quotation: 1836, Oliver Wendell Holmes, Poetry: A Metrical Essay: “There breathes no being but has some pretence /…”
Linked words
through Latin turris ‘tower, especially a military tower for siege,…’
Today it means
noun A little tower, frequently a merely ornamental structure at one of the corners of a building or castle.
Language periods are conventional ranges, not dates for this word.
Etymograph / Ancient Greek τύρσις / turret