deplico

Forms

dēplicō (present infinitive dēplicāre, perfect active dēplicāvī, supine dēplicātum); first conjugation^[1]

Etymology

It is from Latin dē- + plicō (“to fold”).^[1][2]

Earliest recorded meaning

Its first use is in Gregory the Great's Moralia (book 8), where woven cloth is rolled up below as it is unrolled above: tela quo inferius texta involvitur, eo superius deplicatur.^[2][3] Köbler dates Gregory to 540–604 AD.^[4]

Semantic evolution

The TLL and Georges equate it with explicō “unfold”,^[2][3] and Gaffiot records the sense “unfold” from the glossaries.^[5] In Medieval Latin it meant to unfold or unroll; the chronicle of Alberic, under the year 1212, forbids anyone to unfurl the banner of the Virgin of Rocamadour before the day of battle.^[6] The Czech dictionary glosses it “undo the folds” and “unroll (cloth)”.^[7] Wiktionary also gives the sense “explain”.^[1]

Wiktionary lists Old French desploiier among its descendants,^[1] while Etymonline derives that verb from displicāre.^[8]

Timeline

• 540–604 AD – Gregory the Great uses it of cloth being unrolled.^[2][3][4]

Meanings

Verb

1. To unfold, unroll.^[3][2][5][6]
2. (Medieval Latin) To unfurl (a banner).^[6]
3. To explain.^[1]

Usage notes

The TLL marks the headword with a query and records a doubtful gloss that renders deplicare as “to depart, avoid”.^[2]

References

1. ^ a b c d e f g Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
2. ^ a b c d e f Thesaurus linguae Latinae (1900–), Leipzig: Teubner; Berlin: De Gruyter; open-access ed., Munich: Bayerische Akademie der Wissenschaften
3. ^ a b c d Georges, Karl Ernst (1913–1918), Ausführliches lateinisch-deutsches Handwörterbuch, 8th ed., ed. Heinrich Georges, Hannover; Leipzig: Hahn
4. ^ a b Köbler, Gerhard (2010), Lateinisches Abkunfts- und Wirkungswörterbuch für Altertum und Mittelalter, online ed., koeblergerhard.de
5. ^ a b Gaffiot, Félix (2016), Dictionnaire latin-français, new ed. by Gérard Gréco et al. (Gaffiot 2016), online ed.
6. ^ a b c Mittellateinisches Wörterbuch bis zum ausgehenden 13. Jahrhundert (1967–), Munich: C. H. Beck; Bayerische Akademie der Wissenschaften
7. ^ Latinitatis medii aevi lexicon Bohemorum / Slovník středověké latiny v českých zemích (1977–), Prague: Academia; electronic version, Institute of Philosophy of the Czech Academy of Sciences
8. ^ Harper, Douglas. Online Etymology Dictionary, https://www.etymonline.com