dica

Forms

dica f (genitive dicae); first declension^[1] The grammarian Phocas says only the accusative is found, in both numbers; the genitive singular and the ablative are lacking.^[2]

Etymology

It is borrowed from Ancient Greek δίκη (díkē, “custom, right; lawsuit”).^[3][2][1] Köbler takes the Greek word back to Proto-Indo-European *deiḱ- (“to show, point”).^[4]

Earliest recorded meaning

The TLL finds it first in Plautus,^[2][4] who has dicam scribere, “to bring a lawsuit”, in the Aulularia.^[5]

Semantic evolution

It is a legal term for a lawsuit or action, and it always refers to Greek affairs.^[3][2] The usual phrase is dicam scribere alicui, a copy of the Greek for “to bring an action against someone”, found in Plautus, in Terence's Phormio and in Cicero's speeches against Verres about Sicily.^[5] Plautus also has dicam subscribere.^[5]

Timeline

• c. 250–184 BC – Plautus, dicam scribere.^[5][2][4]
• 190–159 BC – Terence, in the Phormio.^[5][4]
• 81–43 BC – Cicero, of lawsuits in Sicily.^[5][4]

Meanings

Noun

1. (law, of Greek affairs) A lawsuit, legal action;^[3][5][1] dicam scrībere, to bring an action.^[3][5][1]

Related words

• līs
• āctiō
• causa

Usage notes

A separate medieval dica, which Köbler and Niermeyer connect with Old English, means a tally-stick and a tax or aid.^[6][4]

References

1. ^ a b c d e f Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
2. ^ a b c d e Thesaurus linguae Latinae (1900–), Leipzig: Teubner; Berlin: De Gruyter; open-access ed., Munich: Bayerische Akademie der Wissenschaften
3. ^ a b c d Glare, P. G. W., ed. (2012), Oxford Latin Dictionary, 2nd ed., Oxford: Oxford University Press
4. ^ a b c d e f Köbler, Gerhard (2010), Lateinisches Abkunfts- und Wirkungswörterbuch für Altertum und Mittelalter, online ed., koeblergerhard.de
5. ^ a b c d e f g h Lewis, Charlton T.; Short, Charles (1879), A Latin Dictionary, Oxford: Clarendon Press
6. ^ Niermeyer, J. F. (1976), Mediae Latinitatis Lexicon Minus, Leiden: Brill