Tarentum
/təˈrɛntəm/noun
Tarentum is the ancient Roman name for Taranto, a Greek-founded city in southern Italy.
Did you know?Tarentum’s later Italian name, Taranto, helped give English the words tarantula and tarantism, the supposed dancing sickness once blamed on spider venom.
Etymological Timeline
Before the 7th Century BCE
Pre-Greek
*Tar- / *Tarant-
“A probable pre-Greek place-name element; its exact meaning remains uncertain.”
8th Century BCE
Ancient Greek
Τάρας (Táras)
“The Greek name of the city, traditionally founded by Spartan colonists in southern Italy.”
Classical Greek
Ancient Greek
Τάραντας (Tárantas)
“A later Greek form of the city’s name, also associated with the river and surrounding territory.”
1st Century BCE
Latin
Tarentum
“The Roman Latin name for the major Greek city in Calabria, conquered by Rome in 272 BCE.”
Middle Ages
Italian
Taranto
“The evolving Italian form of the ancient place-name.”
17th Century onward
English
tarantula / tarantism
“English terms derived through Taranto: the spider associated with the region, and the supposed dancing illness attributed to its bite.”
Explore more surprising origins