Etymologically
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decipio

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Pronunciation

  • Classical: [deːˈkɪ.pi.oː][1]
  • Ecclesiastical: [deˈt͡ʃiː.pi.o][1]

Forms

dēcipiō (present infinitive dēcipere, perfect active dēcēpī, supine dēceptum); third (-iō variant) conjugation[1]

Etymology

It is formed from Latin dē- + capiō (“to take, seize”).[2][3][4] Lewis & Short take its first sense to be “to catch” an animal running away, as in dēcipula (“snare”).[5] De Vaan traces capiō to Proto-Italic *kap-i-, from Proto-Indo-European *kh₂p-i- or a non-Indo-European ⟨*kap-⟩ “to seize”, cognate with Ancient Greek κάπτω (káptō, “to gulp down”) and Gothic 𐌷𐌰𐍆𐌾𐌰𐌽 (hafjan, “to lift”).[6]

Earliest recorded meaning

Plautus has ego hunc dēcipiam probē, “I'll fool him nicely”.[2]

Semantic evolution

Dēcipere is “to deceive, mislead, dupe”, of persons and of circumstances (Cicero: the ambiguous oracle that deceived Croesus), and “to escape the notice of” (Horace: a lover is blind to his mistress's faults, which escape him).[2][5][1] It is also “to disappoint, frustrate, cheat” of an expected advantage (Plautus: hope has deceived many who hoped), and to cheat one's family of their hopes by dying.[2][1] Lewis & Short add “to beguile, while away” time or trouble.[5]

Church Latin glosses it “to deceive, catch, snare, beguile”.[7] English deceive comes from it through Old French about 1300.[4]

Timeline

  • c. 250–184 BC – Plautus: ego hunc dēcipiam probē.[2][8]
  • 170–c. 90 BC – Accius: tua honestitūdō Danaōs dēcēpit.[2][8]
  • 81–43 BC – Cicero of the oracle that deceived Croesus.[2][8]
  • c. 1300 – English deceive.[4]

Meanings

Verb

  1. To deceive, mislead, dupe.[2][5][1][7]
  2. To escape the notice of, elude.[2][1]
  3. To disappoint, frustrate, cheat (of a hope).[2][1]
  4. To catch, snare.[5][1][7]
  5. To beguile, while away.[5][7]

Word family

  • dēceptiō
  • dēceptīvus
  • dēceptor
  • dēceptrix
  • deceptus
  • dēcipula

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 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 Harper, Douglas. Online Etymology Dictionary, https://www.etymonline.com
  5. ^ a b c d e f Lewis, Charlton T.; Short, Charles (1879), A Latin Dictionary, Oxford: Clarendon Press
  6. ^ de Vaan, Michiel (2008), Etymological Dictionary of Latin and the other Italic Languages, Leiden Indo-European Etymological Dictionary Series 7, Leiden; Boston: Brill
  7. ^ a b c d Stelten, Leo F. (1995), Dictionary of Ecclesiastical Latin, Peabody, Mass.: Hendrickson
  8. ^ a b c Köbler, Gerhard (2010), Lateinisches Abkunfts- und Wirkungswörterbuch für Altertum und Mittelalter, online ed., koeblergerhard.de