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deligo

Etymology and origin of the Latin word deligo

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Latin lego
Latin praelego
Latin deligo
Latin delego
Latin ablego
Latin eligo
Latin collega

deligo1 choose

Confidence
Established
Formation
Compound
First attested
Plautus
Ultimate origin
Proto-Indo-European (*leǵ-)

Pronunciation

  • IPA (Classical): [ˈdeː.lɪ.ɡoː][1]
  • IPA (Ecclesiastical): [ˈdɛː.li.ɡo][1]

Forms

dēligō (present infinitive dēligere, perfect active dēlēgī, supine dēlēctum); third conjugation[1] Also spelled dēlegō in Plautus, Ovid and Celsus.[2]

Etymology

The verb “to choose” is from Latin dē- + legō (“to gather, pick”).[2][3][1] De Vaan traces ⟨legō⟩ to Proto-Italic *leg-e-, from Proto-Indo-European *leǵ-e/o- (“to collect”).[4]

Earliest recorded meaning

The OLD's earliest citations are from Plautus and Cato.[2] Köbler dates Plautus c. 250–184 BC and Cato 234–149 BC.[5]

Semantic evolution

It meant to pick off, remove by plucking, as in Cato; to pick out in preference to the rest, choose persons, things or a course of action, as in Cicero's ex cīvitāte in senātum dēlēctī “chosen from the citizens for the senate”; and to levy soldiers, enrol, as in Caesar.[2][6]

In Ecclesiastical Latin it meant to choose, select, resolve, wish.[7]

Timeline

  • 234–149 BC – Cato uses it of plucking.[2][5]
  • 81–43 BC – Cicero uses it of choosing.[2][5]
  • c. 50 BC – Caesar uses it of a levy.[2][5]

Meanings

Verb

  1. To pick off, remove by plucking.[2]
  2. To pick out, choose, select.[2]
  3. To levy (soldiers), enrol.[2]

Word family

  • dēlēctus
  • dēlēctiō

deligo2 tie up

Confidence
Established
Formation
Compound
First attested
Cato
Ultimate origin
Proto-Indo-European (*leyǵ-)

Pronunciation

  • IPA (Classical): [ˈdeː.lɪ.ɡoː][1]
  • IPA (Ecclesiastical): [ˈdɛː.li.ɡo][1]

Forms

dēligō (present infinitive dēligāre, perfect active dēligāvī, supine dēligātum); first conjugation[1]

Etymology

The verb “to tie up” is from Latin dē- + ligō (“to tie”).[2][1] De Vaan reconstructs ⟨ligō⟩ as Proto-Italic *-lig-ā-, probably from Proto-Indo-European *liǵ- (“to tie”); since the simple verb is not found before Catullus, the older compounds may point to a base ⟨*lig-e/o-⟩.[4]

Earliest recorded meaning

The OLD's earliest citations are from Cato, of tying something fast.[2] Köbler dates Cato 234–149 BC.[5]

Semantic evolution

It meant to make fast by tying, tie up, as in Caesar's nāviculam ad rīpam dēligāre “to moor a boat to the bank”, and of persons and animals; and in medicine to bandage, as in Celsus.[2][6]

Timeline

  • 234–149 BC – Cato uses it.[2][5]
  • c. 50 BC – Caesar uses it of mooring a boat.[6][5]
  • 14–37 AD – Celsus uses it of bandaging.[2][5]

Meanings

Verb

  1. To make fast by tying, tie up, moor.[2][6]
  2. (medicine) To bandage.[2]

References

  1. ^ a b c d e f g h 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 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 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 h Köbler, Gerhard (2010), Lateinisches Abkunfts- und Wirkungswörterbuch für Altertum und Mittelalter, online ed., koeblergerhard.de
  6. ^ a b c d Gaffiot, Félix (2016), Dictionnaire latin-français, new ed. by Gérard Gréco et al. (Gaffiot 2016), online ed.
  7. ^ Stelten, Leo F. (1995), Dictionary of Ecclesiastical Latin, Peabody, Mass.: Hendrickson
Cite this entry

“Deligo.” Etymologically, 16 Oct. 2026, etymologically.com/la/deligo. Accessed 17 Oct. 2026.

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