torpedo

The story

1. Proto-Indo-European · derived from*ster-“stiff”
2. Latin · borrowed fromtorpēdō“a torpedo fish; numbness, torpidity, electric ray”
3. English todaytorpedo

* Borrowed from Latin torpēdō (“a torpedo fish; numbness, torpidity, electric ray”), from torpeō (“to be stiff, numb, torpid; to be astounded; to be inactive”) + -ēdō (noun suffix), from Proto-Indo-European *ster- (“stiff”). In the military sense coined by Robert Fulton in 1805. Cognate with Old English steorfan (“to die”), Ancient Greek στερεός (stereós, “solid”), Lithuanian tirpstu (“to become rigid”), Old Church Slavonic трупети (trupeti). * (type of car): From 1908, after "the Torpedo", a car designed by Captain Theo Masui.

Words from the same roots

First known use, by meaning

• from 1805 A naval mine.
• 1910s A woman's shoe with a pointed toe.
• from 1960s A large breast; a breast with a large nipple.
• 1940s A thick marijuana cigarette.
• from 1980s A cigarette containing marijuana and crack cocaine.