LATIN DICTIONARYLexicon Latīnum
noun · femininefirst declension

tunica

tunica f (genitive tunicae)
Classical[ˈtʊ.nɪ.ka]Ecclesiastical[ˈtuː.ni.ka]
Mille Verba core vocabulary

Meaning

  1. femininetunic, an undergarment worn by both men and women
  2. femininefigurativelya coating, membrane, peel
  3. Medieval Latinfemininea military cloak

Latīnē defined in Latin in our graded readers

vestis interior, quam virī fēminaeque sub cēterīs vestibus gerunt.
tunica -ae f — in Mille Verba, ch. Vestis et Ōrnāmenta

Declension

declension
formsingularplural
nominativetunicatunicae
genitivetunicaetunicārum
dativetunicaetunicīs
accusativetunicamtunicās
ablativetunicātunicīs
vocativetunicatunicae

tŭnĭca, ae, f. perh. for tog-nica, from tego,
I. an under-garment of the Romans worn by both sexes, a tunic.
I. Lit., Plaut. Ep. 2, 2, 46; 5, 2, 60; id. Mil. 3, 1, 93; 5, 30; id. Pers. 1, 3, 75; Cic. Tusc. 5, 20, 60; id. de Or. 2, 47, 195; Hor. S. 1, 2, 132; id. Ep. 1, 1, 96; 1, 18, 33.—A tunic with long sleeves was thought effeminate, Plaut. Ps. 2, 4, 48; Cic. Cat. 2, 10, 22; Suet. Calig. 52; Gell. 7, 12, 4: et tunicae manicas habent, Verg. A. 9, 616: manicata, Curt. 3, 3, 13; cf. Plin. 8, 48, 74, § 194: tunicas mutare cottidie, Hier. Ep. 22, 32.—Prov.: tunica propior pallio est, my tunic is nearer than my cloak (like the Engl. near is my shirt, but nearer is my skin), Plaut. Trin. 5, 2, 30.—
II. Transf., a coating, skin, tegument, membrane, husk, peel, etc., = velamentum, membrana: se medio trudunt de cortice gemmae Et tenues rumpunt tunicas, Verg. G. 2, 75: cum teretes ponunt tunicas aestate cicadae, Lucr. 4, 58; so, oculorum, Cels. 7, 7, 14; Plin. 11, 37, 54, § 147: boletorum, id. 22, 22, 46, § 93: corticis, id. 24, 3, 3, § 7; cf.: inter corticem ac lignum tenues tunicae multiplici membranā, id. 16, 14, 25, § 65; 16, 36, 65, § 163.

Origins

Possibly of Central Semitic origin as Ancient Greek χῐτών (khĭtṓn), with a metathesis. Compare Aramaic כִּיתּוּנָא (kittōnā, “tunic”) / ܟܘܬܝܢܐ (kuttīnā, kottīnā, “tunic”), Hebrew כֻּתֹּנֶת (kuttṓnĕṯ, “tunic”); from the word for flax, Aramaic כּיתָּנָא (kittānā, “flax”) / ܟܬܢܐ (kettānā, “flax”), Akkadian 𒃰 (kitûm, “flax”), Sumerian 𒃰 (gada, “flax”), ultimately a substrate word. However, Etruscan has been suggested as well. Compare also borrowed textile terms of unknown origin in Mycenaean Greek 𐀵𐀖𐀏 (to-mi-ka) and 𐀵𐀛𐀊 (to-ni-ja), both descriptions of textile, as well as 𐀶𐀙𐀜 (tu-na-no, “kind of textile”).

Elsewhere
  • Catalantúnica
  • Englishtunica
  • Italiantunica
  • Portuguesetúnica
  • Spanishtúnica
  • Dutchtunica
  • Galiciantúnica
  • Old Frenchtunique
  • Kadiwéutoonicogofrom Portuguese túnica
  • Proto-West Germanic*tunikā
Italo-Dalmatian
  • Italiantonaca
  • Siciliantonica
  • Siciliantònaca
  • Venetantònega
Gallo-Romance
  • Catalantonga
Ibero-Romance
  • Spanishtonga
  • Asturiantonga
Gallo-Italic
  • Lombardtònega
  • Lombardtónga

In English words that came into English from tunica

  • tunictunica
  • retinarētīna
  • tunicletunicula
  • tunicatunica
  • tunicarytunica

In the Academy Smith's classical dictionaries

AntiquitiesTunicaTunica The χιτὼν or tunica was a shirt: or shift, and served as the chief under-garment of the Greeks and Romans, both men and women. Greek In the ear…

Quick answers

What does tunica mean in Latin?
tunica, a noun, means “tunic, an undergarment worn by both men and women; a coating, membrane, peel; a military cloak”.
What is the genitive of tunica?
The genitive singular is tunicae. tunica is feminine, first declension.
How do you pronounce tunica?
In classical Latin, [ˈtʊ.nɪ.ka]; in ecclesiastical (church) Latin, [ˈtuː.ni.ka].
Which English words come from tunica?
English words that go back to Latin tunica include tunic, tunica, tunicary, retina and tunicle.