disco

Pronunciation

• IPA (Classical): [ˈdɪs.koː]^[1]
• IPA (Ecclesiastical): [ˈdis.ko]^[1]

Forms

discō (present infinitive discere, perfect active didicī, future active participle discitūrus); third conjugation, no supine stem except in the future active participle^[1]

Etymology

It is inherited from Proto-Italic *dikske/o-, inherited from Proto-Indo-European *di-dḱ-sḱ-e/o-, a reduplicated present of the root *deḱ- “to take, accept”; the perfect didicī continues *de-doḱ-.^[2][1] The LIV takes it as a desiderative, which de Vaan rejects because it never meant “to want to learn”.^[2] It is related to doceō “to teach” and Ancient Greek διδάσκω (didáskō, “to teach”).^[3][4]

Earliest recorded meaning

De Vaan dates it from Plautus,^[2] who has a slave saying he has told all he learned, with Epidicus as his teacher.^[3] Köbler dates Plautus c. 250–184 BC.^[5]

Semantic evolution

It meant to learn or acquire skill in something, to learn to recognize or get to know, and to hear or find out, as in Cicero's “I long to learn this”.^[3] Cicero speaks of learning Greek, litterās Graecās discere.^[6]

Its compounds include ēdiscō “to learn by heart” and dēdiscō “to unlearn”, and the noun discipulus “pupil” is usually linked with it, discipulus and disciplīna gave English disciple and English discipline.^[1][7]

Timeline

• c. 250–184 BC – Plautus has a slave who learned from Epidicus.^[3][5]
• 81–43 BC – Cicero speaks of learning Greek.^[6][5]
• 65–8 BC – Horace says the skilled Spaniard will get to know him.^[3][5]
• Old English – discipul is borrowed from discipulus.^[7]

Meanings

Verb

1. To learn, acquire skill in.^[3]
2. To get to know, learn to recognize.^[3]
3. To hear, find out, be told.^[3]

Word family

• addiscō
• condiscō
• dēdiscō
• discentia
• ēdiscō
• indisco
• perdiscō
• praediscō
• redisco

Related words

• decet
• doceō
• discipulus
• English disciple
• English discipline

References

1. ^ a b c d e Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
2. ^ a b c de Vaan, Michiel (2008), Etymological Dictionary of Latin and the other Italic Languages, Leiden Indo-European Etymological Dictionary Series 7, Leiden; Boston: Brill
3. ^ a b c d e f g h Glare, P. G. W., ed. (2012), Oxford Latin Dictionary, 2nd ed., Oxford: Oxford University Press
4. ^ Thesaurus linguae Latinae (1900–), Leipzig: Teubner; Berlin: De Gruyter; open-access ed., Munich: Bayerische Akademie der Wissenschaften
5. ^ a b c d Köbler, Gerhard (2010), Lateinisches Abkunfts- und Wirkungswörterbuch für Altertum und Mittelalter, online ed., koeblergerhard.de
6. ^ a b Gaffiot, Félix (2016), Dictionnaire latin-français, new ed. by Gérard Gréco et al. (Gaffiot 2016), online ed.
7. ^ a b Harper, Douglas. Online Etymology Dictionary, https://www.etymonline.com