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addico

Etymology and origin of the Latin word addico

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Confidence
Established
Formation
Derivation
First attested
Twelve Tables
Ultimate origin
Latin (dīcō)
Etymology tree
inherited borrowed derived
Latin dico
Latin addico

Pronunciation

  • IPA (Classical): [adˈdiː.koː][1]
  • IPA (Ecclesiastical): [adˈdiː.ko][1]

Forms

addīcō (present infinitive addīcere, perfect active addīxī, supine addictum); third conjugation, irregular short imperative[1]

Etymology

It is from Latin ad- + dīcō (“to say”).[2][3] Festus explains it as properly “to say the same, to approve by speaking”.[4] Its opposite in augural and legal language is abdīcō.[4]

Earliest recorded meaning

The Twelve Tables order the magistrate to award the case to the party present after midday.[2] Köbler dates the Twelve Tables c. 450 BC.[5]

Semantic evolution

In augury it meant to speak favourably: the sacred birds addīcunt when they approve an undertaking.[2][4] In law it meant to assign property or a case to someone, and to hand over a debtor to his creditor, hence in servitūtem addīcere “to sentence to slavery”.[2] At auctions it meant to knock down to a bidder, and Cicero accuses an opponent of having sold his consulship.[2] It also meant to assign provinces or offices and to ascribe a work to an author, as Gellius does of plays credited to Plautus.[2] Reflexively it meant to devote oneself to a person or party, and it came to mean to surrender, enslave and condemn, as mortī addictus “doomed to death” in Cicero.[2]

Medieval Latin kept the senses to assign, to award and to condemn, and to reduce to servitude.[6] English addict, from the participle addictus, is recorded in the 1530s for devoting oneself to a habit.[7]

Timeline

  • c. 450 BC – The Twelve Tables use it of awarding a case.[2][5]
  • c. 250–184 BC – Plautus uses it of assigning property.[2][5]
  • 81–43 BC – Cicero uses it of corrupt sales and of persons doomed to death.[2][5]
  • c. 165 AD – Gellius uses it of ascribing plays to Plautus.[2][5]
  • 1530s – English addict is recorded.[7]

Meanings

Verb

  1. (augury) To be favourable, approve.[2][1]
  2. (law) To assign, adjudge; to award a case; to hand over a debtor or thief.[2][4]
  3. To knock down at auction; to sell.[2][1]
  4. To assign, appoint; to ascribe.[2]
  5. To devote oneself, give one's support.[2][1]
  6. To hand over, surrender; to enslave.[2]
  7. To sentence, condemn.[2][1]

Word family

  • addictiō
  • addictor
  • addictus
  • abdīcō
  • benedīcō
  • condīcō
  • contrādīcō
  • dīcō
  • ēdīcō
  • indīcō
  • interdīcō
  • maledīcō
  • praedīcō
  • English addict

References

  1. ^ a b c d e f g Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
  2. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m n o p q r Glare, P. G. W., ed. (2012), Oxford Latin Dictionary, 2nd ed., Oxford: Oxford University Press
  3. ^ Thesaurus linguae Latinae (1900–), Leipzig: Teubner; Berlin: De Gruyter; open-access ed., Munich: Bayerische Akademie der Wissenschaften
  4. ^ a b c d Lewis, Charlton T.; Short, Charles (1879), A Latin Dictionary, Oxford: Clarendon Press
  5. ^ a b c d e Köbler, Gerhard (2010), Lateinisches Abkunfts- und Wirkungswörterbuch für Altertum und Mittelalter, online ed., koeblergerhard.de
  6. ^ Mittellateinisches Wörterbuch bis zum ausgehenden 13. Jahrhundert (1967–), Munich: C. H. Beck; Bayerische Akademie der Wissenschaften
  7. ^ a b Harper, Douglas. Online Etymology Dictionary, https://www.etymonline.com
Cite this entry

“Addico.” Etymologically, 15 Oct. 2026, etymologically.com/la/addico. Accessed 16 Oct. 2026.

Last edited on . ·