Etymologically
Log in

dehonesto

This is the current revision of this entry, as edited by bogdan on 20 October 2026 at 14:22. This address is a permanent link to this version.
Changes in this edit History

Pronunciation

  • Classical: [de.(ɦ)ɔˈnɛs.toː][1]
  • Ecclesiastical: [de.oˈnɛs.to][1]

Forms

dehonestō (present infinitive dehonestāre, perfect active dehonestāvī, supine dehonestātum); first conjugation[1]

Etymology

It is from Latin dē- + honestō (“to honour”).[2][1] The TLL derives it from dē and honestus (“honourable”), comparing the simple verb.[3] De Vaan explains the adjective as formed on the stem of honōs (“honour”), for which no further etymology is known.[4]

Earliest recorded meaning

It first appears in Livy (59 BC–AD 17), of a reputation stained and disgraced (famam maculari dehonestarique).[5][6][7]

Semantic evolution

L&S find it once in Livy and otherwise only after Augustus; the TLL notes that it is missing in the poets apart from Prudentius, who scans the first syllable long.[5][3] Tacitus has a man dishonouring his great-grandfather by infamous conduct, and Thrasea's writings disgracing his own fame;[6][5] Justin uses it of being disgraced by a battle with so vile a people, and the Historia Augusta of dishonouring the Roman empire.[6][5] Fronto uses the passive with in and the ablative.[6] The TLL gives Spanish denostar as its descendant.[3] The nouns dehonestāmentum and dehonestātiō are formed from it.[1]

Timeline

  • 59 BC–AD 17 – Livy uses it of a reputation disgraced.[5][7]
  • AD 98–115 – Tacitus uses it of dishonouring an ancestor.[5][7]
  • 348/49–c. 413 AD – Prudentius uses it, with a long first syllable.[3][7]

Meanings

Verb

  1. To dishonour, disgrace, discredit.[2][5]

Word family

References

  1. ^ a b c d e Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
  2. ^ a b Glare, P. G. W., ed. (2012), Oxford Latin Dictionary, 2nd ed., Oxford: Oxford University Press
  3. ^ a b c d 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 g Lewis, Charlton T.; Short, Charles (1879), A Latin Dictionary, Oxford: Clarendon Press
  6. ^ a b c d Georges, Karl Ernst (1913–1918), Ausführliches lateinisch-deutsches Handwörterbuch, 8th ed., ed. Heinrich Georges, Hannover; Leipzig: Hahn
  7. ^ a b c d Köbler, Gerhard (2010), Lateinisches Abkunfts- und Wirkungswörterbuch für Altertum und Mittelalter, online ed., koeblergerhard.de