Etymologically
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addo

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Pronunciation

  • IPA (Classical): [ˈad.doː][1]
  • IPA (Ecclesiastical): [ˈad.do][1]

Forms

addō (present infinitive addere, perfect active addidī, supine additum); third conjugation[1]

Etymology

It is from Latin ad- + -do (“to put”), with the same second element as abdō.[2][1] The element -dō continues Proto-Indo-European *dʰeh₁- (“to put, place”).[1]

Cognate with Sanskrit आदधाति (ā́dadhāti, “places, adds”).[1]

Earliest recorded meaning

It is found in the Laws of the Twelve Tables, which forbid adding gold to a burial, neve aurum addito.[2][3]

Semantic evolution

It first meant to put something on or with something else, and to assign a person to someone, as Plautus' Argus, whom Juno gave Io as a guard.[2] It meant to add one quantity to another, as Lucilius' “add up the expenses and the debts”, to add a person to a group, and to say or write in addition.[2]

It also meant to increase or intensify, as Plautus' “your words add to my weariness”, and to bestow or inflict something on someone.[2] In law it meant to add a clause to a statute.[2] English add was borrowed in the late 14th century, and its gerundive gave addendum in 1794.[4]

Timeline

  • c. 450 BC – The Twelve Tables use neve aurum addito.[2][3]
  • c. 250–184 BC – Plautus uses it of assigning a guard.[2][5]
  • c. 180–102 BC – Lucilius uses it of adding sums.[2][5]
  • late 14th century – English add is recorded.[4]

Meanings

Verb

  1. To attach, put on, place with.[2][1]
  2. To put in, insert.[2]
  3. To apply.[2]
  4. To assign (as a guard, guardian).[2]
  5. To confer, bestow, inflict.[2][1]
  6. To add (one quantity to another).[2][1]
  7. To add (to a group), include.[2]
  8. To increase, intensify, gradum addere: to quicken one's pace.[2]
  9. To say or write in addition.[2]
  10. (law) To add as a proviso.[2]

Word family

  • additāmentum
  • additicius
  • additiō
  • additiuus
  • coaddō
  • superaddō
  • English add
  • English addendum

References

  1. ^ a b c d e f g h i 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 s Glare, P. G. W., ed. (2012), Oxford Latin Dictionary, 2nd ed., Oxford: Oxford University Press
  3. ^ a b Lewis, Charlton T.; Short, Charles (1879), A Latin Dictionary, Oxford: Clarendon Press
  4. ^ a b Harper, Douglas. Online Etymology Dictionary, https://www.etymonline.com
  5. ^ a b Köbler, Gerhard (2010), Lateinisches Abkunfts- und Wirkungswörterbuch für Altertum und Mittelalter, online ed., koeblergerhard.de