dictatio

Pronunciation

• IPA (Classical): [dɪkˈtaː.ti.oː]^[1]
• IPA (Ecclesiastical): [dikˈtat.t͡si.o]^[1]

Forms

dictātiō f (genitive dictātiōnis); third declension^[1]

Etymology

It is from Latin dictō (“to dictate”) + -tiō.^[2][1][3] ⟨dictō⟩ is a frequentative of dīcō (“to say”), which de Vaan traces to Proto-Italic *deik-e/o- (“to say”), from Proto-Indo-European *deyḱ-e/o-.^[3][4]

Earliest recorded meaning

Lewis & Short call it Late Latin, citing the jurist Paulus in the Digest.^[5][6] Köbler's earliest source is Augustine, whom he dates 354–430 AD.^[7]

Semantic evolution

It meant a dictating, dictation, and a dictated draft, as in the Digest, and Jerome and Cassiodorus use it of a commentary, a writing.^[2][5][6]

Medieval Latin used it for dictating and for a text, writing.^[8] English dictation (1650s, “authoritative utterance”; the sense of speaking for another to write down by 1727) is from it.^[3]

Timeline

• 354–430 AD – Augustine uses it.^[7]
• 1650s – English dictation is recorded.^[3]

Meanings

Noun

1. A dictating, dictation; a dictated draft.^[2][5]
2. A writing, commentary.^[6][8]

Word family

• dictatiuncula

Related words

• dictō
• dictāta
• English dictation

References

1. ^ a b c d 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 c d Harper, Douglas. Online Etymology Dictionary, https://www.etymonline.com
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 c Lewis, Charlton T.; Short, Charles (1879), A Latin Dictionary, Oxford: Clarendon Press
6. ^ a b c Gaffiot, Félix (2016), Dictionnaire latin-français, new ed. by Gérard Gréco et al. (Gaffiot 2016), online ed.
7. ^ a b Köbler, Gerhard (2010), Lateinisches Abkunfts- und Wirkungswörterbuch für Altertum und Mittelalter, online ed., koeblergerhard.de
8. ^ a b Niermeyer, J. F. (1976), Mediae Latinitatis Lexicon Minus, Leiden: Brill