Tarpeian Rock
[tahr-pee-uh n]
- a rock on the Capitoline Hill in Rome, from which criminals and traitors were hurled.
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Origin of Tarpeian Rock
Dictionary.com Unabridged
Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2018
Tarpeian Rock
- (in ancient Rome) a cliff on the Capitoline hill from which traitors were hurled
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Collins English Dictionary - Complete & Unabridged 2012 Digital Edition
© William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins
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Word Origin and History for tarpeian rock
Tarpeian rock
rock face on the Capitoline Hill in Rome, from which persons convicted of treason were thrown headlong, from Latin (mons) Tarpeius "(rock) of Tarpeia," said to have been a Vestal virgin who betrayed the capitol to the Sabines and was buried at the foot of the rock. Her name probably is of Etruscan-Tyrrhenian origin.
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Online Etymology Dictionary, © 2010 Douglas Harper