tīrāre

Meaning

1. Proto Italo Western Romancereconstructionto pull, draw
2. Proto Italo Western Romancereconstructionto throw, shoot

Origins

Uncertain. Only attested in the Romance languages. Joan Coromines viewed this word as “one of the obscurest matters in neo-Latin etymology, so much so as to be considered insoluble”. Among the proposed etyma are: * Proto-Germanic *teraną, *tir- (“to tear, snatch, tug”). * Vulgar Latin *(mar)tyrāre, from Ancient Greek μάρτυς (mártus). * Ancient Greek τείρω (teírō, “to wear out; rub”). * Vulgar Latin *trare (“drag”), from Latin trahere (or simply the latter). * Old Persian *tīr (“arrow”); cf. modern Persian تیر (tir). The first etymology is the most likely.

In English words that came into English from tīrāre

• retire*tīrāre