Etymologically
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dido

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Pronunciation

  • Classical: [ˈdiː.doː][1]
  • Ecclesiastical: [ˈdiː.do][1]

Forms

dīdō (present infinitive dīdere, perfect active dīdidī, supine dīditum); third conjugation[1] Cato has the perfect disdidī.[2][3]

Etymology

It is from Latin dis- + dō (“to give”).[2][1][4] De Vaan lists it among the compounds of dō, which goes back to Proto-Indo-European *di-d(e)h₃- (“to give”).[4] The TLL allows that the second part may instead be the verb found in abdō and condō, and compares Ancient Greek διαδίδωμι (diadídōmi, “to distribute”).[5]

Earliest recorded meaning

De Vaan dates it from Plautus.[4] In the OLD's earliest quotation, from Plautus, a character says he will distribute his goods among his relatives.[2][6]

Semantic evolution

Lewis & Short call it archaic and poetic, frequent in Lucretius and found once in Tacitus.[3] Lucretius uses it of food spread through the veins.[2] Cato has the older form ⟨disdidī⟩.[2][3]

Timeline

  • c. 250–184 BC – Plautus of distributing goods.[2][4][6]
  • 234–149 BC – Cato has the form disdidi.[2][6]
  • 96–55 BC – Lucretius of food spread through the veins.[2][6]
  • 98–115 AD – Tacitus uses it once.[3][6]

Meanings

Verb

  1. To distribute, deal out.[2][3][1]
  2. To spread, diffuse, disseminate.[2][3][1]

Usage notes

Dīdō, the name of the queen and foundress of Carthage, has its own entry in the OLD; it comes from Ancient Greek Διδώ (Didṓ).[2][1] Köbler dates it from Virgil and suggests a Phoenician origin with a question mark.[6]

References

  1. ^ a b c d e f g Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
  2. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k Glare, P. G. W., ed. (2012), Oxford Latin Dictionary, 2nd ed., Oxford: Oxford University Press
  3. ^ a b c d e f Lewis, Charlton T.; Short, Charles (1879), A Latin Dictionary, Oxford: Clarendon Press
  4. ^ a b c d de Vaan, Michiel (2008), Etymological Dictionary of Latin and the other Italic Languages, Leiden Indo-European Etymological Dictionary Series 7, Leiden; Boston: Brill
  5. ^ Thesaurus linguae Latinae (1900–), Leipzig: Teubner; Berlin: De Gruyter; open-access ed., Munich: Bayerische Akademie der Wissenschaften
  6. ^ a b c d e f Köbler, Gerhard (2010), Lateinisches Abkunfts- und Wirkungswörterbuch für Altertum und Mittelalter, online ed., koeblergerhard.de