Etymologically
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dissimilis

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Pronunciation

  • Classical: [dɪsˈsɪ.mɪ.lɪs][1]
  • Ecclesiastical: [disˈsiː.mi.lis][1]

Forms

dissimilis (neuter dissimile, comparative dissimilior, superlative dissimillimus, adverb dissimiliter); third-declension two-termination adjective[1]

Etymology

It is formed from Latin dis- + similis (“like”).[2][3][1] De Vaan traces the adjective to Proto-Italic *semali- (“alike, together”) and Proto-Indo-European *sm̥h₂-el-i-, from the root *sem- (“one”), cognate with Ancient Greek ὁμαλός (homalós, “level, even”) and Old Irish samail (“similar”).[4][1]

Earliest recorded meaning

The TLL and de Vaan record it from Plautus on, meaning “unlike, different”.[3][4]

Semantic evolution

It is the usual opposite of similis and cōnsimilis, built with a genitive, a dative, atque or et, or inter sē.[5] The comparative dissimilior appears in Cicero's Brutus and the superlative dissimillimus in Varro.[3] As a neuter noun it is that which is unlike: Varro speaks of those who compare unlike things, verbs of the imperfect with the perfect.[2] In medieval Latin it could mean unfair.[6]

Timeline

  • c. 250–184 BC – Plautus, its first recorded use.[3][4][7]
  • 116–27 BC – Varro of unlike things, and the superlative.[2][3][7]
  • 81–43 BC – Cicero has the comparative.[3][7]

Meanings

Adjective

  1. unlike, dissimilar, different.[2][1][8]
  2. (neuter as noun) That which is unlike.[2]
  3. (Medieval Latin) unfair.[6]

Word family

  • dissimilitūdō
  • indissimilis

Usage notes

Lewis & Short give dispar, impar and absimilis as synonyms.[5]

References

  1. ^ a b c d e f Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
  2. ^ a b c d e Glare, P. G. W., ed. (2012), Oxford Latin Dictionary, 2nd ed., Oxford: Oxford University Press
  3. ^ a b c d e f Thesaurus linguae Latinae (1900–), Leipzig: Teubner; Berlin: De Gruyter; open-access ed., Munich: Bayerische Akademie der Wissenschaften
  4. ^ 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
  5. ^ a b Lewis, Charlton T.; Short, Charles (1879), A Latin Dictionary, Oxford: Clarendon Press
  6. ^ a b Niermeyer, J. F. (1976), Mediae Latinitatis Lexicon Minus, Leiden: Brill
  7. ^ a b c 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