Tuscus

Part of speech: adjective, noun

Definitions

1. A member of an ancient people native to the region later known as Tuscany ; a term used to describe anything related to the culture, language, or artifacts of this early Italian group ; a historical reference to someone associated with the Etruscan civilization
2. An inhabitant of the ancient land corresponding to modern Tuscany ; pertaining to the language, customs, or art of this early Italic society ; denoting a person from the Etruscan people or their descendants
3. Relating to the pre-Roman inhabitants of central Italy in the area of Tuscany ; indicating the linguistic or cultural traits of this ethnic group ; identifying an individual originating from the Etruscan civilization

Etymology: "Tuscus" is the Latin word for "Etruscan" or "Tuscan," and it is the ancestor of the English adjective "Tuscan." The Romans used it for the people they called Etrusci, who had lived in what became Tuscany long before Rome dominated the peninsula. The Greeks had their own names for the same people, and the Latin forms show the two traditions meeting, which is why scholars still debate the Etruscans' origins. The Latin word was also applied to things, not just people. Roman writers spoke of "tuscus" habits, religious practices, and even architecture, and the Tuscan order, the simplest of the classical column styles in later Italian and English architecture, carries the name into building vocabulary. In that sense the word moved from naming a nation to naming a manner of making things. Tuscany itself takes its name from the Etruscans through the Latin "Tuscia," the region the Romans assigned to them. English "Tuscan" was borrowed in the 1500s, when Renaissance interest in Italian art and architecture was at its height.

Synonyms: Etruscan