Etymology
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turbid (adj.)

"muddy, foul with extraneous matter, thick, not clear," used of liquids having the lees disturbed or colors, 1620s, from Latin turbidus "muddy, full of confusion," from turbare "to confuse, bewilder," from turba "turmoil, crowd," which is of uncertain origin. De Vaan writes:

Turba seems most similar to [Greek syrbe, Attic tyrbe] 'noise, commotion', ... which are probably loanwords. In that case, Latin would have borrowed the word from a Greek dialect, or both Greek and Latin borrowed it from a third source. In view of the quite well-developed word family already in Plautus, which suggests that turba had been in the language for some time, the latter option seems preferable.

Related: Turbidly; turbidness.

Entries linking to turbid

disturb (v.)

late 13c. distourben, "to frighten, alarm, break up the tranquility of;" c. 1300, "to stop or hinder;" from Old French destorber (Old North French distourber) and directly from Latin disturbare "throw into disorder," from dis- "completely" (see dis-) + turbare "to disorder, disturb," from turba "turmoil" (see turbid). Related: Disturbed; disturbing; disturbingly.

Middle English also had the verb as distourblen, from Old French destorbler; hence also distourbler (n.) "one who disturbs or incites" (late 14c.).

disturbance (n.)

late 13c., "mental distress, emotional disorder of the mind, grief," from Old French destorbance (12c., Old North French distorbance), from destourber, from Latin disturbare "throw into disorder," from dis- "completely" (see dis-) + turbare "to disorder, disturb," from turba "turmoil" (see turbid).

Meaning "public disturbance, political agitation" is from c. 1300; that of "violent interruption of peace or unity" is late 14c.; it is the sense in disturbance of the (king's) peace," early 15c.

updated on June 06, 2019

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Dictionary entries near turbid

-tuple

tuppence

Tupperware

tuque

turban

turbid

turbidity

turbine

turbo-

turbot

turbulence

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