Etymologically
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display

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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
  • 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