Etymologically
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dedisco

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Pronunciation

  • Classical: [deːˈdɪs.koː][1]
  • Ecclesiastical: [deˈdis.ko][1]

Forms

dēdiscō (present infinitive dēdiscere, perfect active dēdidicī); third conjugation, no passive, no supine stem[1]

Etymology

It is from Latin dē- + discō (“to learn”).[2][1][3] De Vaan reconstructs discō as Proto-Italic *dikske/o-, from a reduplicated iterative Proto-Indo-European *di-dḱ-sḱ-e/o- (“to take, accept”), that is, to take in repeatedly.[4]

Earliest recorded meaning

The TLL records it from Plautus on,[3] who has a man who unlearns what he has learned.[5][6]

Semantic evolution

It is to put out of one's mind, unlearn or forget: Cicero writes that a man must learn and unlearn much, and of words to be unlearned.[2][5] With an infinitive it is to lose the habit of doing something or to forget how: Seneca says that whoever has learned to die has unlearned slavery.[2] Lewis & Short call it rare but classical.[5] Lactantius sets it against learning.[6]

Timeline

  • c. 250–184 BC – Plautus of unlearning what was learned.[5][3][7]
  • 81–43 BC – Cicero of learning and unlearning.[2][5][7]
  • 4 BC–65 AD – Seneca of unlearning slavery.[2][7]

Meanings

Verb

  1. To unlearn, forget.[2][5][1]
  2. With an infinitive, to lose the habit of, forget how to.[2]

References

  1. ^ a b c d e Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
  2. ^ a b c d e f g Glare, P. G. W., ed. (2012), Oxford Latin Dictionary, 2nd ed., Oxford: Oxford University Press
  3. ^ a b c Thesaurus linguae Latinae (1900–), Leipzig: Teubner; Berlin: De Gruyter; open-access ed., Munich: Bayerische Akademie der Wissenschaften
  4. ^ de Vaan, Michiel (2008), Etymological Dictionary of Latin and the other Italic Languages, Leiden Indo-European Etymological Dictionary Series 7, Leiden; Boston: Brill
  5. ^ a b c d e f Lewis, Charlton T.; Short, Charles (1879), A Latin Dictionary, Oxford: Clarendon Press
  6. ^ a b Georges, Karl Ernst (1913–1918), Ausführliches lateinisch-deutsches Handwörterbuch, 8th ed., ed. Heinrich Georges, Hannover; Leipzig: Hahn
  7. ^ a b c Köbler, Gerhard (2010), Lateinisches Abkunfts- und Wirkungswörterbuch für Altertum und Mittelalter, online ed., koeblergerhard.de