dedication

Pronunciation

• IPA: /ˌded.ɪˈkeɪ.ʃən/^[1]

Etymology

It is borrowed from Old French dedicacion (“consecration of a church”) and directly from Latin dēdicātiō,^[2][3][4] from dēdicāre, to devote, consecrate (see dedicate),^[2][4] from dē-, away, and dicāre, to proclaim.^[2]

Earliest recorded meaning

The consecration of something to a deity or to sacred use: 1382 in the OED, the late 14th century in Etymonline.^[5][2]

Semantic evolution

The feast commemorating the dedication of a church is from about 1400.^[5] An inscription to a patron or friend prefixed to a book or piece of music is from the 1590s, 1598 in the OED.^[2][5] The figurative sense, giving oneself wholly to a purpose, is from about 1600,^[2] 1601 in the OED.^[5]

Timeline

• 1382 – consecration.^[5]
• c. 1400 – a church's dedication feast.^[5]
• 1598 – a dedication in a book.^[5]
• 1601 – devotion to a purpose.^[5]

Modern meaning

Noun

1. Wholehearted devotion to a task or purpose.
2. An inscription in a book or piece of music dedicating it to someone.
3. The act of dedicating a building, especially a church, to a sacred use.

Word family

• dedicative
• dedicatory
• dedicational
• nondedication
• prededication
• rededication

Related words

• dedicate
• diction
• indicate

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 Harper, Douglas. Online Etymology Dictionary, https://www.etymonline.com
3. ^ Merriam-Webster Unabridged Dictionary (2024), online ed., Springfield, Mass.: Merriam-Webster
4. ^ a b Pearsall, Judy, ed. (1998), The New Oxford Dictionary of English, Oxford: Clarendon Press
5. ^ a b c d e f g h Simpson, J. A.; Weiner, E. S. C., eds. (1989), The Oxford English Dictionary, 2nd ed., Oxford: Clarendon Press