dictionarius

Forms

dictiōnārius m (genitive dictiōnāriī); second declension^[1]

Etymology

It is from Latin dictiō (“saying; speech”) + -ārius,^[1] short for ⟨dictionarius liber⟩, a “book of words”.^[2][3] The first part is a noun of action from dīcō² (“to say”).^[4][3]

Earliest recorded meaning

Its earliest record is John of Garland's Dictionarius,^[3] before 1250,^[5] which explains its title: the little book is called dictionarius from the most necessary words (dictiones) that every scholar should keep not only in a wooden chest but in the cupboard of his heart.^[2]

Semantic evolution

Later medieval book inventories list copies of a dictionarius, also spelled dixionarius,^[2][5] and Polish and Bohemian sources use it for a dictionary or lexicon.^[6][7] Renaissance humanists such as Decembrio, Thomas More and Erasmus still used the masculine, and by metonymy it could also mean the compiler of a dictionary.^[8][2] A rare adjective, “of a dictionary”, appears in Sixtus of Siena.^[8]

The neuter dictionarium became the commoner form, and it is the source of English dictionary.^[3][1]

Timeline

• before 1250 – John of Garland names his Dictionarius.^[2][5]
• 1396 – An inventory of Meaux lists a dictionarius.^[2]
• 1439 – An Oxford inventory lists the first part of a dictionarius.^[2]
• c. 1480 – A Polish record lists a dictionarius among books.^[6]
• c. 1495 – A Dictionarius pauperum for preachers is printed.^[8]
• 1501 – An Oxford college inventory spells it dixionarius.^[2]

Meanings

Noun

1. (Medieval Latin) A dictionary, a word book.^[2][1][7]
2. (New Latin) The compiler of a dictionary.^[8]

Adjective

1. (New Latin) Of or like a dictionary.^[8]

Related words

• dictio
• dico²
• English dictionary

Usage notes

Thomas More writes that he brought no dictionarium aliquem except Hesychius and Dioscorides, an accusative of the masculine.^[2][8] The neuter dictionarium has the same meaning.^[6]

References

1. ^ a b c d e f Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
2. ^ a b c d e f g h i j Latham, R. E., D. R. Howlett, R. K. Ashdowne, et al. (1975–2013), Dictionary of Medieval Latin from British Sources, London: British Academy / Oxford University Press
3. ^ a b c d Harper, Douglas. Online Etymology Dictionary, https://www.etymonline.com
4. ^ Glare, P. G. W., ed. (2012), Oxford Latin Dictionary, 2nd ed., Oxford: Oxford University Press
5. ^ a b c Köbler, Gerhard (2010), Lateinisches Abkunfts- und Wirkungswörterbuch für Altertum und Mittelalter, online ed., koeblergerhard.de
6. ^ a b c Lexicon mediae et infimae Latinitatis Polonorum (1953–), Kraków: Instytut Języka Polskiego PAN; electronic ed. elexicon.scriptores.pl
7. ^ a b 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. ^ a b c d e f Ramminger, Johann, Neulateinische Wortliste: Ein Wörterbuch des Lateinischen von Petrarca bis 1700, www.neulatein.de