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diiudico

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Etymology and origin of the Latin word diiudico

Confidence
Established
Formation
Derivation
First attested
190–159 BC, Terence
Ultimate origin
Latin (iūdicō)
Etymology tree
inherited borrowed derived
Latin iudico
French juger
Latin iudicatio
Latin diiudico
Latin abiudico
Latin adiudico

Pronunciation

  • Classical: [diːˈjuː.dɪ.koː][1]
  • Ecclesiastical: [diˈjuː.di.ko][1]

Forms

dīiūdicō (present infinitive dīiūdicāre, perfect active dīiūdicāvī, supine dīiūdicātum); first conjugation[1] It is also spelled dījūdicō,[1][2] and deiūdicō and disiūdicō occur.[3]

Etymology

It is from Latin dis- + iūdicō (“to judge”).[4][1][3] De Vaan derives iūdex (“judge”) from a compound of iūs “law” with the root of dīcō “to say”.[5]

Earliest recorded meaning

Its first quotations are in Terence, where a man says what comes to his mind and tells the other to decide.[4][2]

Semantic evolution

It is to settle or decide a dispute, and a conflict: Caesar writes that the fortune of war was already decided.[4] It is also to perceive separately or distinguish: the Rhetorica ad Herennium speaks of a charm more easily told by the ear than described, and Cicero of deciding between opinions.[4] Lewis & Short call it classical.[2] Glosses explain it as ⟨discernit⟩.[3] Church Latin glosses it to judge, discern, examine, decide.[6]

Timeline

  • 190–159 BC – Terence, to decide.[4][2][7]
  • 81–43 BC – Cicero, to decide between opinions.[4][7]
  • c. 50 BC – Caesar of the decided fortune of war.[4][7]

Meanings

Verb

  1. To settle, decide (a dispute or conflict); to adjudicate.[4][2][1][6]
  2. To distinguish, discern; to decide between.[4][1][6]

Word family

  • dījūdicātiō
  • dījūdicātrīx

References

  1. ^ a b c d e f g Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
  2. ^ a b c d e Lewis, Charlton T.; Short, Charles (1879), A Latin Dictionary, Oxford: Clarendon Press
  3. ^ a b c Thesaurus linguae Latinae (1900–), Leipzig: Teubner; Berlin: De Gruyter; open-access ed., Munich: Bayerische Akademie der Wissenschaften
  4. ^ a b c d e f g h i Glare, P. G. W., ed. (2012), Oxford Latin Dictionary, 2nd ed., Oxford: Oxford University Press
  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 c Stelten, Leo F. (1995), Dictionary of Ecclesiastical Latin, Peabody, Mass.: Hendrickson
  7. ^ a b c Köbler, Gerhard (2010), Lateinisches Abkunfts- und Wirkungswörterbuch für Altertum und Mittelalter, online ed., koeblergerhard.de
Cite this entry

“Diiudico.” Etymologically, 20 Oct. 2026, etymologically.com/la/diiudico. Accessed 20 Oct. 2026.

Last edited on . ·