treuga

Latin

FWOTD – 11 November 2025

Alternative forms

• trava, treba, trebua, trega, tregia, tregua, treoa, trequa, treuca, treugua, treva, trevia, trewa, tria, triva

Etymology

From Proto-Germanic *trewwō (“pledge, covenant”). The forms with v (b, w) are often derived from Proto-West Germanic *treuwu, those with g (c, q) instead from Gothic 𐍄𐍂𐌹𐌲𐌲𐍅𐌰 (triggwa); but this is not certain since Germanic /w/ commonly surfaces as Romance /ɡw/. Cognate with English truce.

Pronunciation

• (Classical Latin) IPA^(key): [ˈtrɛu̯.ɡa]
• (modern Italianate Ecclesiastical) IPA^(key): [ˈtrɛːu̯.ɡa]

Noun

treuga f (genitive treugae); first declension (Medieval Latin)

1. pledge
2. security for a pledge
3. truce, armistice

   Synonym: indūtiae

   treuga Deī ― truce of God

4. tribute, especially for the maintenance of a peace

Declension

First-declension noun.

	singular	plural
nominative	treuga	treugae
genitive	treugae	treugārum
dative	treugae	treugīs
accusative	treugam	treugās
ablative	treugā	treugīs
vocative	treuga	treugae

Descendants

• Italian: tregua
• Occitan: tregua
• Old Galician-Portuguese: tregua, treegoa, tregoa, treguoa
  • Fala: tregua
  • Galician: tregua
  • Portuguese: trégua
• Old Spanish:
  • Spanish: tregua
• → English: treague

References

• "treuga", in Charles du Fresne du Cange’s Glossarium Mediæ et Infimæ Latinitatis (augmented edition with additions by D. P. Carpenterius, Adelungius and others, edited by Léopold Favre, 1883–1887)
• R. E. Latham, D. R. Howlett, & R. K. Ashdowne, editors (1975–2013), “treuga”, in Dictionary of Medieval Latin from British Sources‎, London: Oxford University Press for the British Academy, →ISBN, →OCLC
• Niermeyer, Jan Frederik (1976), “trewa”, in Mediae Latinitatis Lexicon Minus, Leiden, Boston: E. J. Brill, page 1041
• Magnús Snædal (2011), “Gothic ‹ggw›”, in Studia Linguistica Universitatis Jagellonicae Cracoviensis, volume 128, Cracow, page 151: “Apparently, these forms are best explained as originating in a West-Germanic dialect (not affected by Holtzmann’s law) and that the -g- is part of the Romanisation; [...].”