Etymologically
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decide

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Pronunciation

  • IPA: /dɪˈsaɪd/[1]

Etymology

It is inherited from Middle English deciden,[2][3] borrowed from Middle French decider,[3][4] and directly from Latin dēcīdere (“to determine; literally, to cut off”),[4][2][5] from dē- (“off”) and caedere (“to cut”),[4][2][6] from Proto-Indo-European *kae-id- (“to strike”).[4] Middle English also had decisen, from the Latin past participle dēcīsus, but deciden displaced it.[2] The idea is of resolving difficulties at a stroke.[4] Latin caedere is also behind concise, excise, precise, scissors and suicide.[6]

Earliest recorded meaning

To settle a dispute or question: about 1380 in the OED,[7] the late 14th century in Etymonline,[4] and before 1393 in Gower's Confessio Amantis in Barnhart.[2]

Semantic evolution

The word was at first used of determining questions, controversies and lawsuits.[7][4] “To bring a person to a decision” is from 1710,[7] and the intransitive “to pronounce a final judgement” from 1732.[7] “To make up one's mind” is from 1830.[4][7] The literal Latin sense “to cut off” was tried in 1579 but did not last.[7] Decided and decidedly are from 1790.[2]

Timeline

  • c. 1380 – to settle a question.[7]
  • 1579 – to cut off (obsolete).[7]
  • 1710 – to bring someone to a decision.[7]
  • 1732 – to give judgement.[7]
  • 1790 – decided, decidedly.[2]
  • 1830 – to make up one's mind.[4][7]

Modern meaning

Verb

  1. To make up one's mind; to choose after thinking.
  2. To settle a question or dispute conclusively.
  3. To determine the outcome of: the goal decided the match.
  4. To give a verdict or judgement.

Word family

  • decidability
  • decidable
  • decider
  • predecide
  • redecide
  • decision
  • decisive
  • concise
  • excise
  • precise
  • incision

References

  1. ^ Jones, Daniel (2011), Cambridge English Pronouncing Dictionary, 18th ed., ed. Peter Roach, Jane Setter and John Esling, Cambridge: Cambridge University Press
  2. ^ a b c d e f g Barnhart, Robert K. (1988), The Barnhart Dictionary of Etymology
  3. ^ a b Merriam-Webster Unabridged Dictionary (2024), online ed., Springfield, Mass.: Merriam-Webster
  4. ^ a b c d e f g h i Harper, Douglas. Online Etymology Dictionary, https://www.etymonline.com
  5. ^ Hoad, T. F., ed. (1986), The Concise Oxford Dictionary of English Etymology, Oxford: Clarendon Press
  6. ^ a b Cresswell, Julia (2021), Oxford Dictionary of Word Origins, 3rd ed., Oxford: Oxford University Press
  7. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k Simpson, J. A.; Weiner, E. S. C., eds. (1989), The Oxford English Dictionary, 2nd ed., Oxford: Clarendon Press