dissemino

Forms

dissēminō (present infinitive dissēmināre, perfect active dissēmināvī, supine dissēminātum); first conjugation^[1]

Etymology

It is formed from Latin dis- + sēminō (“to sow”),^[2][3][4] the verb being formed from sēmen (“seed”).^[4]

Earliest recorded meaning

The TLL records it first in Cicero,^[3] who speaks of spreading deeds abroad into everlasting memory in the Pro Archia and says in the fourth speech against Catiline that an evil is latius opinione disseminatum (“spread more widely than people think”).^[3][5]

Semantic evolution

Lewis and Short give the literal sense “scatter seed, sow” and call the figurative “spread abroad” rare but good prose.^[5] The figurative use is the main one in the classical record: Fronto has it of virtue and Apuleius of desires spread among peoples.^[3] Christian writers used it of lies, heresies and schisms, Tertullian and Hilary of Poitiers among them,^[3] and the Itala has it in Numbers where the Vulgate uses dispergo.^[3] Ammianus Marcellinus has it of rumours and growing licence.^[3]

Medieval Latin used it both for sowing and scattering things and for spreading letters, news and teachings.^[6] English took over disseminate around 1600,^[4] and Italian disseminare and French disséminer are related borrowings.^[1]

Timeline

• 81–43 BC – Cicero uses it of spreading deeds, talk and an evil.^[3][5][7]
• 100–170 AD – Fronto uses it of virtue.^[3][7]
• c. 125–175 AD – Apuleius uses it of desires spread among peoples.^[3][7]
• c. 160–220 AD – Tertullian uses it of spreading a lie.^[3][7]
• c. 390 AD – Ammianus Marcellinus uses it of rumours.^[3][7]
• c. 1600 – English borrows it as disseminate.^[4]

Meanings

Verb

1. To sow, scatter (seed or other things).^[5][6]
2. To spread widely, broadcast, disseminate (news, ideas, teachings).^[2][5][8]

Word family

• dissēminātiō
• dissēminātor

References

1. ^ a b c d Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
2. ^ a b Glare, P. G. W., ed. (2012), Oxford Latin Dictionary, 2nd ed., Oxford: Oxford University Press
3. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l Thesaurus linguae Latinae (1900–), Leipzig: Teubner; Berlin: De Gruyter; open-access ed., Munich: Bayerische Akademie der Wissenschaften
4. ^ a b c d Harper, Douglas. Online Etymology Dictionary, https://www.etymonline.com
5. ^ a b c d e Lewis, Charlton T.; Short, Charles (1879), A Latin Dictionary, Oxford: Clarendon Press
6. ^ a b Mittellateinisches Wörterbuch bis zum ausgehenden 13. Jahrhundert (1967–), Munich: C. H. Beck; Bayerische Akademie der Wissenschaften
7. ^ a b c d e 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