depingo

Forms

dēpingō (present infinitive dēpingere, perfect active dēpīnxī, supine dēpictum); third conjugation^[1] Plautus has the syncopated perfect depinxti.^[2][3]

Etymology

It is formed from Latin dē- + pingō (“to paint”).^[2][3] De Vaan traces pingō through Proto-Italic *ping-e/o- to Proto-Indo-European *pi-n-ḱ- (“to paint, adorn”).^[4]

Earliest recorded meaning

Its first use is in Plautus' Poenulus (c. 250–184 BC),^[2][3][5] in the sense of describing in words: someone has described a woman's looks well.^[2]

Semantic evolution

Besides describing in words or picturing in the mind, used by Terence and Cicero,^[2] it meant to represent in painting, as when Nepos tells of the battle of Marathon painted in a portico.^[2][6] It was also used of decorating with paint, of the sky painted with stars in Manilius,^[2] and of embroidery in gold in Valerius Flaccus, Suetonius and Apuleius.^[2] Late writers have the forms depixit (Gregory of Tours) and depinctus (Commodian).^[3]

English depict comes from its past participle dēpictus.^[7]

Timeline

• c. 250–184 BC – Plautus uses it of describing in words.^[2][5]
• 190–159 BC – Terence uses it of describing someone's deeds.^[2][5]
• c. 100–24 BC – Nepos uses it of a painted battle.^[2][5]
• 1st century AD – Manilius uses it of the sky decorated with stars.^[2][5]
• early 15th century – English borrows depict from its past participle.^[7]

Meanings

Verb

1. To represent in painting, depict; to paint a picture.^[2][6]
2. To decorate with paint; to colour, adorn.^[2]
3. To embroider.^[2]
4. To describe or represent in words or in the imagination.^[2][8]

Word family

• dēpictiō
• dēpictus

References

1. ^ a b c 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 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 Köbler, Gerhard (2010), Lateinisches Abkunfts- und Wirkungswörterbuch für Altertum und Mittelalter, online ed., koeblergerhard.de
6. ^ a b Lewis, Charlton T.; Short, Charles (1879), A Latin Dictionary, Oxford: Clarendon Press
7. ^ a b Harper, Douglas. Online Etymology Dictionary, https://www.etymonline.com
8. ^ Georges, Karl Ernst (1913–1918), Ausführliches lateinisch-deutsches Handwörterbuch, 8th ed., ed. Heinrich Georges, Hannover; Leipzig: Hahn