Etymologically
Log in

diiudico

This is the current revision of this entry, as edited by bogdan on 20 October 2026 at 03:36. This address is a permanent link to this version.
Changes in this edit History

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