Etymologically
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dirimo

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Pronunciation

  • IPA (Classical): [ˈdɪ.rɪ.moː][1]
  • IPA (Ecclesiastical): [ˈdiː.ri.mo][1]

Forms

dirimō (present infinitive dirimere, perfect active dirēmī, supine dirēmptum); third conjugation[1]

Etymology

It is from dis- “apart” and emō “to take”, in its old sense, with /s/ becoming /r/ between vowels (⟨*disemō⟩).[2][1][3][4] De Vaan traces ⟨emō⟩ to Proto-Indo-European *h₁em- (“to take”).[5]

Earliest recorded meaning

The OLD's earliest citations are from Lucretius and Cicero.[2] Köbler dates Lucretius 96–55 BC.[6]

Semantic evolution

It meant to pull apart, divide, as in Cicero's corpus quod dirimī nōn possit “a body that cannot be divided”; to separate from contact, remove, as in Lucretius; to separate two things from each other, as in Columella, and to sort votes; and to break up, interrupt, dissolve an activity or a relationship, as in Cicero.[2][7]

In Ecclesiastical Latin it meant to nullify, dissolve, separate, interrupt, frustrate.[8]

Timeline

  • 96–55 BC – Lucretius uses it.[2][6]
  • 81–43 BC – Cicero uses it of breaking off.[2][6]
  • 1st century AD – Columella uses it.[2][6]

Meanings

Verb

  1. To pull apart, divide.[2]
  2. To separate, remove.[2]
  3. To break up, interrupt, dissolve.[2]

Word family

  • diremptiō
  • diremptus

References

  1. ^ a b c d Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
  2. ^ a b c d e f g h i Glare, P. G. W., ed. (2012), Oxford Latin Dictionary, 2nd ed., Oxford: Oxford University Press
  3. ^ Lewis, Charlton T.; Short, Charles (1879), A Latin Dictionary, Oxford: Clarendon Press
  4. ^ 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 c d Köbler, Gerhard (2010), Lateinisches Abkunfts- und Wirkungswörterbuch für Altertum und Mittelalter, online ed., koeblergerhard.de
  7. ^ Gaffiot, Félix (2016), Dictionnaire latin-français, new ed. by Gérard Gréco et al. (Gaffiot 2016), online ed.
  8. ^ Stelten, Leo F. (1995), Dictionary of Ecclesiastical Latin, Peabody, Mass.: Hendrickson