Etymologically
Log in

dicto

This is the current revision of this entry, as edited by bogdan on 16 October 2026 at 13:33. This address is a permanent link to this version.
Changes in this edit History

Pronunciation

  • IPA (Classical): [ˈdɪk.toː][1]
  • IPA (Ecclesiastical): [ˈdik.to][1]

Forms

dictō (present infinitive dictāre, perfect active dictāvī, supine dictātum); first conjugation[1]

Etymology

It is the frequentative of dīcō “to say” with the suffix -tō, from its supine stem, as Priscian notes.[2][1][3]

Earliest recorded meaning

The OLD's earliest citations are from Cicero, of dictating.[2] Köbler dates Cicero 81–43 BC.[4]

Semantic evolution

It meant to say often, repeat, which Lewis and Short call very rare, and in Horace to recite.[2][5] From Cicero it meant to dictate to a scribe, as aliquid alicui dictāre, to compose, as in Suetonius, and to dictate words to be spoken.[2][6] In Pliny it meant to prescribe, order, in surveying to fix a line, and in Ulpian āctiōnem dictāre to institute proceedings.[2]

In Ecclesiastical Latin it meant to say repeatedly, order, dictate, prescribe.[7] It was borrowed early into Old English dihtan, the source of English dight, and its participle gave English dictate in the 1590s.[8] It survives in Italian dettare and French dicter.[1]

Timeline

  • 81–43 BC – Cicero uses it of dictating.[2][4]
  • 65–8 BC – Horace uses it of reciting.[2][4]
  • c. 75–c. 150 AD – Suetonius uses it of composing.[2][4]
  • 1590s – English dictate is recorded.[8]

Meanings

Verb

  1. To say often; to recite.[2]
  2. To dictate; to compose.[2]
  3. To prescribe, order.[2]
  4. āctiōnem dictāre, to institute proceedings.[2]

Word family

  • dīcō
  • dictātiuncula
  • dictātōrius
  • dictiō
  • dictiōnārium
  • dictiōsus
  • dictum
  • dictus
  • English dictate
  • English dictator

References

  1. ^ a b c d e Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
  2. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l Glare, P. G. W., ed. (2012), Oxford Latin Dictionary, 2nd ed., Oxford: Oxford University Press
  3. ^ Thesaurus linguae Latinae (1900–), Leipzig: Teubner; Berlin: De Gruyter; open-access ed., Munich: Bayerische Akademie der Wissenschaften
  4. ^ a b c d Köbler, Gerhard (2010), Lateinisches Abkunfts- und Wirkungswörterbuch für Altertum und Mittelalter, online ed., koeblergerhard.de
  5. ^ Lewis, Charlton T.; Short, Charles (1879), A Latin Dictionary, Oxford: Clarendon Press
  6. ^ Gaffiot, Félix (2016), Dictionnaire latin-français, new ed. by Gérard Gréco et al. (Gaffiot 2016), online ed.
  7. ^ Stelten, Leo F. (1995), Dictionary of Ecclesiastical Latin, Peabody, Mass.: Hendrickson
  8. ^ a b Harper, Douglas. Online Etymology Dictionary, https://www.etymonline.com