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diffido

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Etymology and origin of the Latin word diffido

Confidence
Established
Formation
Derivation
First attested
81–43 BC, Cicero
Ultimate origin
Proto-Indo-European (*bʰeydʰ-e/o-)

Pronunciation

  • Classical: [dɪfˈfiː.doː][1]
  • Ecclesiastical: [difˈfiː.do][1]

Forms

diffīdō (present infinitive diffīdere, perfect active diffīsus sum); third conjugation, semi-deponent[1] It is deponent in the perfect tenses, diffīsus sum, and post-classical Latin also has an active perfect diffīdī.[2][3] An inscription spells the participle d(if)eidens.[2][4]

Etymology

It is formed from dis- (“apart, not”) and fīdō (“to trust”).[2][4][1] De Vaan derives ⟨fīdō⟩ from Proto-Italic *feiþe- and Proto-Indo-European *bʰeydʰ-e/o- (“to trust”), the root also of fidēs (“faith”), cognate with Umbrian kumpifiatu (“let him announce”).[5]

Earliest recorded meaning

The OLD's earliest examples are in Cicero,[2] who says the guilty flee trial “because they distrust their case”, and in an early speech “I had no confidence that I could make a stand in this case”.[2]

Semantic evolution

It is to lack confidence in a good outcome, to despair, and with the dative to have no trust in someone or something.[2][3][1] With an accusative and infinitive it is to have no confidence that, and with an infinitive to expect not to.[2] Lewis and Short find it frequent and classical, most often with the dative.[3]

Church Latin glosses it “mistrust”.[6]

Timeline

  • 81–43 BC – Cicero of distrusting one's case.[2][7]

Meanings

Verb

  1. To distrust, lack confidence (in); to be diffident.[2][3][1][6]
  2. To despair (of); to expect not (to).[2][3][1]

Word family

  • diffīdentia
  • subdiffīdō

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 Glare, P. G. W., ed. (2012), Oxford Latin Dictionary, 2nd ed., Oxford: Oxford University Press
  3. ^ a b c d e Lewis, Charlton T.; Short, Charles (1879), A Latin Dictionary, Oxford: Clarendon Press
  4. ^ a b Thesaurus linguae Latinae (1900–), Leipzig: Teubner; Berlin: De Gruyter; open-access ed., Munich: Bayerische Akademie der Wissenschaften
  5. ^ de Vaan, Michiel (2008), Etymological Dictionary of Latin and the other Italic Languages, Leiden Indo-European Etymological Dictionary Series 7, Leiden; Boston: Brill
  6. ^ a b Stelten, Leo F. (1995), Dictionary of Ecclesiastical Latin, Peabody, Mass.: Hendrickson
  7. ^ Köbler, Gerhard (2010), Lateinisches Abkunfts- und Wirkungswörterbuch für Altertum und Mittelalter, online ed., koeblergerhard.de
Cite this entry

“Diffido.” Etymologically, 19 Oct. 2026, etymologically.com/la/diffido. Accessed 19 Oct. 2026.

Last edited on . ·