1727, from Latin truculentia "savageness, cruelty," from truculentus (see truculent). Related: Truculency (1560s).
Entries linking to truculence
truculent adj.
1530s, from Latin truculentus "fierce, savage, stern, harsh, cruel," from trux (genitive trucis) "fierce, rough, savage, wild," perhaps from a suffixed form of PIE root *tere- (2) "cross over, pass through, overcome." Related: Truculently.