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