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displiceo

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Etymology and origin of the Latin word displiceo

Confidence
Established
Formation
Derivation
First attested
c. 250–184 BC, Plautus
Ultimate origin
Proto-Indo-European (*pl(e)h₂k-)

Pronunciation

  • Classical: [dɪsˈplɪ.ke.oː][1]
  • Ecclesiastical: [disˈpliː.t͡ʃe.o][1]

Forms

displiceō (present infinitive displicēre, perfect active displicuī, supine displicitum); second conjugation[1] Gellius has a perfect displicitus est.[2]

Etymology

It is formed from dis- (“apart, not”) and placeō (“to please”).[3][4][1] De Vaan derives ⟨placeō⟩ from Proto-Italic *plak-ē- and Proto-Indo-European *pl(e)h₂k- (“to agree, be pleasant”), whose only direct cognates are the Tocharian words plāki (“permission”) and plākäm.[5]

Earliest recorded meaning

De Vaan dates it from Plautus,[5] who has “should what pleases you displease me?” in the Miles gloriosus.[2]

Semantic evolution

It is to displease or offend, with the dative, as opposed to placēre.[3][2] Reflexively it is to be dissatisfied with oneself, as Terence's “how wholly displeased I am with myself now”, and also to be unwell.[3] Impersonally it is said of what is disapproved of, as Cicero's “that the people should approve of the king and disapprove of the exiles”.[3]

Lewis and Short call it rare but classical;[2] the TLL notes it is absent from Lucretius, Caesar and Sallust.[4] Church Latin glosses it “displease”.[6]

Timeline

  • c. 250–184 BC – Plautus opposes it to placēre.[2][7]
  • 190–159 BC – Terence of being displeased with oneself.[3][7]
  • 81–43 BC – Cicero uses it impersonally.[3][7]

Meanings

Verb

  1. To displease, offend.[3][2][1][6]
  2. (reflexive) To be dissatisfied with oneself; to be unwell.[3][1]

Word family

  • displicentia

References

  1. ^ a b c d e f Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
  2. ^ a b c d e f Lewis, Charlton T.; Short, Charles (1879), A Latin Dictionary, Oxford: Clarendon Press
  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. ^ a b Thesaurus linguae Latinae (1900–), Leipzig: Teubner; Berlin: De Gruyter; open-access ed., Munich: Bayerische Akademie der Wissenschaften
  5. ^ a b 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 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

“Displiceo.” Etymologically, 19 Oct. 2026, etymologically.com/la/displiceo. Accessed 19 Oct. 2026.

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