dilato

Pronunciation

• IPA (Classical): [diːˈɫaː.toː]^[1]
• IPA (Ecclesiastical): [diˈlaː.to]^[1]

Forms

dīlātō (present infinitive dīlātāre, perfect active dīlātāvī, supine dīlātātum); first conjugation^[1]

Etymology

The OLD, Gaffiot and Etymonline derive it from dis- “apart” and lātus “wide” with the verb suffix -ō, and Lewis & Short and the Thesaurus take it as a frequentative of differō, participle ⟨dīlātus⟩.^{[2][3][4][5][6][1]}

Earliest recorded meaning

The OLD's earliest citations are from Cicero.^[2] Köbler dates Cicero 81–43 BC.^[7]

Semantic evolution

It meant to make wider, expand, spread, dilate, as in Cicero's stomachī partēs dīlātantur, and figuratively to swell with self-importance; to extend non-physical things over a wider area; and to express more fully, dilate upon, as in Cicero.^[2][3]

In Ecclesiastical Latin it meant to extend, enlarge, open wide.^[8] English dilate (late 14th century) first meant “to speak at length”; the sense “to expand” is from the early 15th century.^[4]

Timeline

• 81–43 BC – Cicero uses it.^[2][7]
• late 14th century – English dilate is recorded.^[4]

Meanings

Verb

1. To widen, expand, dilate.^[2]
2. To extend, spread.^[2]
3. To dilate upon, amplify.^[2]

Word family

• dīlātātiō
• dilatator

Related words

• lātus
• differō
• English dilate

References

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