dicio

Forms

diciō f (genitive diciōnis); third declension^[1] It is found only in the oblique cases of the singular, with one plural in Prudentius;^[2] the spelling ditio is less correct.^[2]

Etymology

It is formed with the suffix -iō from the root ⟨dic-⟩ of dīcō (“to say”).^[3][1][4] De Vaan derives the verb from Proto-Italic *deik-e/o- (“to say”) and Proto-Indo-European *deiḱ-e/o- (“to show”).^[5] The TLL compares dicis, dictātor and condiciō.^[6][2]

Earliest recorded meaning

Köbler's first author is Plautus,^[4] where the defeated enemy surrender themselves, their city and their children “into the dominion and judgement” of the Theban people.^[2]

Semantic evolution

It is a political and military term for dominion, sovereignty or sway, as in Caesar's states brought into the power of the Roman people and Livy's surrender of everything into Roman hands.^[3][2] Of private persons it is authority or control, as Plautus' “I give my ears into your control” and Pliny the Younger's children in their parents' power.^[3]

Church Latin glosses it “domination, power, control, jurisdiction”.^[7] In medieval Latin fiscī diciōnēs is the fisc as a corporate body.^[8]

Timeline

• c. 250–184 BC – Plautus of surrender into someone's power.^[2][4]
• 81–43 BC – Cicero of a man's will and control.^[3][4]
• c. 50 BC – Caesar of states brought under Roman rule.^[2][4]
• 59 BC–17 AD – Livy of surrender into Roman control.^[2][4]

Meanings

Noun

1. Dominion, sovereignty, sway.^[3][2][1]
2. Authority, power or control of private persons.^[3]
3. (Ecclesiastical Latin) Jurisdiction.^[7]
4. (Medieval Latin) fiscī diciōnēs: the fisc as a corporate body.^[8]

Related words

• dīcō
• condiciō
• iūdex

References

1. ^ a b c Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
2. ^ a b c d e f g h i Lewis, Charlton T.; Short, Charles (1879), A Latin Dictionary, Oxford: Clarendon Press
3. ^ a b c d e f 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. ^ de Vaan, Michiel (2008), Etymological Dictionary of Latin and the other Italic Languages, Leiden Indo-European Etymological Dictionary Series 7, Leiden; Boston: Brill
6. ^ Thesaurus linguae Latinae (1900–), Leipzig: Teubner; Berlin: De Gruyter; open-access ed., Munich: Bayerische Akademie der Wissenschaften
7. ^ a b Stelten, Leo F. (1995), Dictionary of Ecclesiastical Latin, Peabody, Mass.: Hendrickson
8. ^ a b Niermeyer, J. F. (1976), Mediae Latinitatis Lexicon Minus, Leiden: Brill