display

Pronunciation

• IPA: /dɪˈspleɪ/^[1]

Etymology

It is inherited from Middle English desplayen, displayen,^[2][3] borrowed from Anglo-Norman despleier, Old French desploiir “to unfold, spread out” (modern French déployer),^[4][2][5] from Latin displicāre (“to scatter”), in Medieval Latin “to unfold”,^[4][2][6] from dis- “apart, un-” and plicāre (“to fold”),^[4][2] from Proto-Indo-European *plek- (“to plait”).^[4][5] It is not connected with play.^[4] It is a doublet of deploy,^[2][7] and splay was originally a shortening of it.^[7]

Earliest recorded meaning

“To unfold, spread out, unfurl”, properly of sails and banners: 1292 in the OED,^[8] probably before 1300 in Arthour and Merlin according to Barnhart,^[2] and about 1300 in Etymonline.^[4]

Semantic evolution

“To reveal, expose to view” is from the late 14th century,^[4] probably about 1380 in Barnhart.^[2] “To manifest, make perceptible” is from 1575,^[8] “to show off, exhibit ostentatiously” from the early 17th century (1628),^[7][8] and “to reveal unintentionally” from about 1600.^[4] The noun first meant a description, in 1583, now obsolete;^[2][4][8] an exhibition or show is from 1665,^[2][8] and ostentation is first recorded in Byron's Parisina (1816).^[2] In ornithology, a pattern of behaviour that communicates visually, it is from 1901.^[8] The presentation of signals on a screen is from 1945, of radar,^[4][8] and by 1960 of computers.^[4] The display window is attested by 1893.^[4]

Timeline

• 1292 – to unfold, unfurl.^[8]
• c. 1380 – to exhibit.^[2]
• 1583 – noun, a description.^[2][8]
• 1665 – an exhibition.^[2][8]
• 1816 – ostentation.^[2]
• 1901 – a bird's display.^[8]
• 1945 – a radar or screen display.^[4][8]

Modern meaning

Verb

1. To put or hold up to view; to exhibit.
2. To show information or images on a screen.
3. To give evidence of; to manifest: displayed great courage.
4. To show off.

Noun

1. The act of displaying, or a public exhibition.
2. Goods or objects set out for the public to see.
3. A demonstration or manifestation: a display of temper.
4. A pattern of behaviour, as of a bird, used to communicate visually.
5. An electronic device or screen that presents information visually.

Word family

• displayable
• displayer
• undisplayed
• predisplay
• redisplay
• courtship display
• liquid-crystal display

Related words

• deploy
• splay
• ply
• pliable
• complicate

Usage notes

The American Heritage groups display with array, panoply, parade, pomp and show as words for an impressive or ostentatious exhibition.^[9]

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 h i j k l m n Barnhart, Robert K. (1988), The Barnhart Dictionary of Etymology
3. ^ Merriam-Webster Unabridged Dictionary (2024), online ed., Springfield, Mass.: Merriam-Webster
4. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m Harper, Douglas. Online Etymology Dictionary, https://www.etymonline.com
5. ^ a b The American Heritage Dictionary of the English Language (2000), 4th ed., Boston: Houghton Mifflin
6. ^ Hoad, T. F., ed. (1986), The Concise Oxford Dictionary of English Etymology, Oxford: Clarendon Press
7. ^ a b c Cresswell, Julia (2021), Oxford Dictionary of Word Origins, 3rd ed., Oxford: Oxford University Press
8. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l Simpson, J. A.; Weiner, E. S. C., eds. (1989), The Oxford English Dictionary, 2nd ed., Oxford: Clarendon Press
9. ^ The American Heritage Dictionary of the English Language (1992), 3rd ed., Boston: Houghton Mifflin