Toro | Etymology, Origin And Meaning Of Toro By Etymonline

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Origin and history of toro

toro(n.)

"bull," 1650s, from Spanish toro "bull," from Latin taurus (see Taurus). A torista is a bullfight enthusiast who is chiefly interested in the bull.

also from 1650s

Entries linking to toro

Taurus(n.)

zodiac constellation, Middle English Taur, taurus, Anglo-French Taure, from Latin taurus "bull, bullock, steer," also the name of the constellation, from PIE *tau-ro- "bull."

This is reconstructed to be also the source of Greek tauros, Old Church Slavonic turu "bull, steer;" Lithuanian tauras "aurochs;" Old Prussian tauris "bison"); from PIE *tauro- "bull," from root *(s)taeu- "stout, standing, strong" (source also of Sanskrit sthura- "thick, compact," Avestan staora- "big cattle," Middle Persian stor "horse, draft animal," Gothic stiur "young bull," Old English steor; according to Watkins it is an extended form of the root *sta- "to stand, make or be firm."

Klein proposes a Semitic origin (compare Aramaic tora "ox, bull, steer," Hebrew shor, Arabic thor, Ethiopian sor). De Vaan writes: "The earlier history of the word is uncertain: there is no cognate in [Indo-Iranian] or Tocharian, whereas there are Semitic words for 'bull' which are conspicuously similar. Hence, it may have been an early loanword of the form *tauro- into the western IE languages."

The meaning "person born under the sign of the bull" is recorded from 1901. The Taurid meteors (peaking Nov. 20) are so called from 1878.

At midnight revels when the gossips met,

He was the theme of their eternal chat:

This ask'd what form great Jove would next devise,

And when his godship would again Taurise?

[William Somerville, "The Wife," 1727]

Torosaurus

dinosaur genus discovered in western U.S., 1891 (Marsh), from toro- "bull" (see toro) + -saurus. So called for its "horns."

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toreadoropposed to a torero, who kills on foot), 1610s, from Spanish toreador, from torear "to participate in a bullfight," from toro...Tauruszodiac constellation, Middle English Taur, taurus, Anglo-French Taure, from Latin taurus "bull, bullock, steer," also the name of the constellation, from PIE *tau-ro- "bull." This is reconstructed to be also the source of Greek tauros, Old Church Slavonic turu "bull, steer;" LithweekOld English wucu, wice, etc., from Proto-Germanic *wikō(n)- (source also of Old Norse vika, Old Frisian wike, Middle Dutch weke, Old High German wecha, German woche), probably originally with the sense of "a turning" or "succession" (compare Gothic wikon "in the course of," Old Nabandonlate 14c., "to give up (something) absolutely, relinquish control, give over utterly;" also reflexively, "surrender (oneself), yield (oneself) utterly" (to religion, fornication, etc.), from Old French abandonner "surrender, release; give freely, permit," also reflexive, "devote representlate 14c., representen, "show, display, express; bring to mind by description," also "to symbolize, serve as a sign or symbol of (something else, something abstract); serve as the type or embodiment of;" also be a representative of" (the authority of another). This is from Old Freccentricearly 15c., "eccentric circle or orbit," originally a term in Ptolemaic astronomy, "circle or orbit not having the Earth precisely at its center," from French eccentrique and directly from Medieval Latin eccentricus (noun and adjective), from Greek ekkentros "out of the center" (indictformerly also endict, c. 1300, enditen, inditen, "bring formal charges against (someone); accuse of a crime," from Anglo-French enditer "accuse, indict, find chargeable with a criminal offense" (late 13c.), Old French enditier, enditer "to dictate, write, compose; (legally) indicKyrie eleisonearly 13c., a Greek liturgical formula adopted untranslated into the Latin mass, literally "lord have mercy" (Psalms cxxii.3, Matthew xv.22, xvii.15, etc.). From kyrie, vocative of kyrios "lord, master" (see church (n.)) + eleeson, aorist imperative of eleo "I have pity on, show confesslate 14c., transitive and intransitive, "make avowal or admission of" (a fault, crime, sin, debt, etc.), from Old French confesser (transitive and intransitive), from Vulgar Latin *confessare, a frequentative form from Latin confess-, past participle stem of confiteri "to acknowlresortlate 14c., "that to which one has recourse for aid or assistance, source of comfort and solace," from Old French resort "resource, a help, an aid, a remedy," back-formation from resortir "to resort," literally "to go out again," from re- "again" (see re-) + sortir "go out" (see s

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‘cite’Page URL:https://www.etymonline.com/word/toroCopyHTML Link:<a href="https://www.etymonline.com/word/toro">Etymology of toro by etymonline</a>CopyAPA Style:Harper, D. (n.d.). Etymology of toro. Online Etymology Dictionary. Retrieved February 8, 2026, from https://www.etymonline.com/word/toroCopyChicago Style:Harper Douglas, "Etymology of toro," Online Etymology Dictionary, accessed February 8, 2026, https://www.etymonline.com/word/toro.CopyMLA Style:Harper, Douglas. "Etymology of toro." Online Etymology Dictionary, https://www.etymonline.com/word/toro. Accessed 8 February, 2026.CopyIEEE Style:D. Harper. "Etymology of toro." Online Etymology Dictionary. https://www.etymonline.com/word/toro (accessed February 8, 2026).CopyRemove AdsAdvertisement

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TrendingDictionary entries near toro

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