dictionarium

Forms

dictiōnārium n (genitive dictiōnāriī); second declension^[1]

Etymology

It is from Latin dictiō (“saying, word”) + -ārium,^[1] the neuter of dictiōnārius.^[1] Etymonline takes it to be probably a shortening of the phrase ⟨dictionarius liber⟩, “book of words”.^[2] The first part is a noun of action from dīcō² (“to say”),^[3][2] which goes back to Proto-Indo-European *deyḱ- (“to show”).^[1]

Earliest recorded meaning

Köbler records it as early as the 9th century,^[4] in the sense of a dictionary;^[2] Etymonline reports that the medieval word is said to have been first used by John of Garland as the title of a Latin vocabulary of about 1220.^[2]

Semantic evolution

The word became the usual Renaissance name for a dictionary.^[1] In 1497 Aldus said that the Greek lexika could be called dictionaria in Latin, and it appears in book titles such as Dictionarium iuris civilis et canonici (1481).^[5] The masculine dictionarius was used in the same sense.^[6][7]

It passed into the Romance languages and English as a learned word: Middle English dixionare, French dictionnaire, Italian dizionario and Catalan diccionari.^[1] English dictionary dates from the 1520s.^[2]

Timeline

• 9th century – Köbler's earliest record.^[4]
• c. 1220 – John of Garland is said to have used the word for the title of a Latin vocabulary.^[2]
• 1481 – A printed Dictionarium iuris civilis et canonici appears.^[5]
• 1497 – Aldus equates it with Greek lexika.^[5]
• 1519 – Brunfels writes of a Hebrew dictionarium.^[5]
• 1520s – English borrows it as dictionary.^[2]
• 1538 – A Kraków print is titled Dictionarium trilingue.^[6]

Meanings

Noun

1. (Medieval Latin, New Latin) A dictionary, lexicon.^[1][5][6][8]

Related words

• dictio
• dico²
• English dictionary

Usage notes

Some medieval and Renaissance texts use the masculine dictiōnārius instead; the eLexicon Polonorum treats both under one head.^[6]

References

1. ^ a b c d e f g h i Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
2. ^ a b c d e f g Harper, Douglas. Online Etymology Dictionary, https://www.etymonline.com
3. ^ Glare, P. G. W., ed. (2012), Oxford Latin Dictionary, 2nd ed., Oxford: Oxford University Press
4. ^ a b Köbler, Gerhard (2010), Lateinisches Abkunfts- und Wirkungswörterbuch für Altertum und Mittelalter, online ed., koeblergerhard.de
5. ^ a b c d e Ramminger, Johann, Neulateinische Wortliste: Ein Wörterbuch des Lateinischen von Petrarca bis 1700, www.neulatein.de
6. ^ a b c d Lexicon mediae et infimae Latinitatis Polonorum (1953–), Kraków: Instytut Języka Polskiego PAN; electronic ed. elexicon.scriptores.pl
7. ^ Latinitatis medii aevi lexicon Bohemorum / Slovník středověké latiny v českých zemích (1977–), Prague: Academia; electronic version, Institute of Philosophy of the Czech Academy of Sciences
8. ^ Bartal, Antal, et al. (1987–), Lexicon Latinitatis Medii Aevi Hungariae, Budapest: Akadémiai Kiadó; online ed. ELTE