Etymologically
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dicax

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Pronunciation

  • Classical: [ˈdɪ.kaːks][1]
  • Ecclesiastical: [ˈdiː.kaks][1]

Forms

dĭcāx (genitive dĭcācis); third-declension one-termination adjective[1]

Etymology

It is formed with -āx on the root ⟨dic-⟩ of dīcō (“to say”), as in maledicus.[2][1][3] De Vaan traces dīcō to Proto-Italic *deik-e/o- (“to say”) and Proto-Indo-European *deiḱ-e/o- (“to show”).[4]

Earliest recorded meaning

Köbler dates it from Plautus,[5] who in the Truculentus joins it with cavillātor, a jester.[6]

Semantic evolution

It describes someone with a ready tongue, quick to make clever remarks at another's expense.[2] Cicero distinguishes it from facētus: Demosthenes was not so much dicāx as facētus, since the first needs a sharper wit, the second greater art,[6] and Quintilian takes up the distinction.[6] Catullus joins it with venustus and urbānus, and Caelius, as Quintilian quotes him, with lascīvus.[6] Horace speaks of the satyrs, and Cicero of someone sharp-tongued against another.[6] Livy and Cicero use the comparative, Petronius the superlative; there is no adverb.[6][3]

Timeline

  • c. 250–184 BC – Plautus with cavillātor.[6][5]
  • 81–43 BC – Cicero contrasts it with facētus.[6]
  • 81/79–52/50 BC – Catullus with venustus and urbānus.[6]
  • 65–8 BC – Horace of the satyrs.[6]

Meanings

Adjective

  1. Having a ready tongue, quick with jokes at another's expense; sarcastic, witty, satirical.[2][6][1]

Word family

  • dicācitās
  • dicāculus
  • maledicāx

References

  1. ^ a b c d e Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
  2. ^ a b c Glare, P. G. W., ed. (2012), Oxford Latin Dictionary, 2nd ed., Oxford: Oxford University Press
  3. ^ a b 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 Köbler, Gerhard (2010), Lateinisches Abkunfts- und Wirkungswörterbuch für Altertum und Mittelalter, online ed., koeblergerhard.de
  6. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k Lewis, Charlton T.; Short, Charles (1879), A Latin Dictionary, Oxford: Clarendon Press