tegus

Meaning

1. neutercarcass; the back or trunk of an animal
   Di immortales, iam ut ego collos praetruncabo tĕgŏrĭbus, quanta pernis pestis veniet, quanta labes larido, quanta sumini absumedo, quanta callo calamitas, quanta laniis lassitudo, quanta porcinariis.Immortal gods, how I will chop the necks off the backs in a moment! What havoc will fall on the ham, what loss on the lard, what utter consumption on the udder, what misfortune on the meat, what sleepiness on the slaughterers and pork-butchers!c. 200 BCE – 190 BCE, Plautus, Captivi 4.3.2–5 (trochaic septenarius)
   Adveniens deturbavit totum cum carne carnarium: a͞rrĭpŭi͞t glădĭu͞m, pra͞etru͞ncāvi͞t trĭbŭs tē̆gŏrĭbū̆s gla͞ndĭa; aulas calicesque omnes confregit, nisi quae modiales erant.When he arrived he threw down the whole meat stand with the meat. He grabbed a sword and chopped the sweet-breads off three meat-joints. He smashed all pots and dishes to pieces, except those that were bucket-sized.c. 200 BCE – 190 BCE, Plautus, Captivi 4.4.7–9 (iambic octonarius)

Declension

Origins

Archaic alternative form of tergus n (“back; hide”). Possibly originally a distinct word that became blended with tergum. Alternatively, if tergus was original, tegus, tegor- might be a by-form derived by dissimilative loss of the first /r/ in tergor-.