dissimulo

Pronunciation

• IPA (Classical): [dɪsˈsɪ.mʊ.ɫoː]^[1]
• IPA (Ecclesiastical): [disˈsiː.mu.lo]^[1]

Forms

dissimulō (present infinitive dissimulāre, perfect active dissimulāvī, supine dissimulātum); first conjugation^[1]

Etymology

It is from Latin dis- + simulō (“to make like, pretend”).^[2][3] Wiktionary and Lewis & Short derive it instead from dissimilis “unlike”, with /i/ becoming /u/ before ⟨l⟩; the TLL gives both.^[1][4][5] Georges explains its first sense as “to make unlike”.^[6]

Earliest recorded meaning

Plautus, in the Menaechmi, exclaims at how a scoundrel dissembles, and Terence has it too.^[2] Köbler dates Plautus about 250–184 BC.^[7]

Semantic evolution

It meant to disguise someone's identity, as Ovid's Achilles hidden in a long dress and the god disguised as a bull.^[2][6] Most often it meant to pretend that a thing is not what it is, to hide or keep secret, as Cicero's “I will feign nothing, hide nothing”, and Lewis & Short call it very frequent and classical.^[2][4]

It also meant to pretend not to notice, to ignore, as in Livy's senate that could overlook and forget much.^[2] Medieval Latin kept the senses of hiding and passing over, and added scheming.^[8] English dissemble came from Old French dessembler in the early 15th century, and dissimulate from its participle at the same time.^[9]

Timeline

• c. 250–184 BC – Plautus uses it of dissembling.^[2][7]
• 81–43 BC – Cicero uses it of concealing.^[4][7]
• 43 BC–18 AD – Ovid uses it of disguise.^[2][7]
• early 15th century – English dissemble and dissimulate are recorded.^[9]

Meanings

Verb

1. To disguise.^[2][1]
2. To dissemble, conceal, keep secret.^[2][1]
3. To pretend not to notice, ignore.^[2][1]

Word family

• dissimulāmentum
• dissimulantia
• dissimulātiō
• dissimulātor
• dissimulanter

Related words

• simulo
• English dissemble
• English dissimulate

References

1. ^ a b c d e f g Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
2. ^ a b c d e f g h i j Glare, P. G. W., ed. (2012), Oxford Latin Dictionary, 2nd ed., Oxford: Oxford University Press
3. ^ Gaffiot, Félix (2016), Dictionnaire latin-français, new ed. by Gérard Gréco et al. (Gaffiot 2016), online ed.
4. ^ a b c Lewis, Charlton T.; Short, Charles (1879), A Latin Dictionary, Oxford: Clarendon Press
5. ^ Thesaurus linguae Latinae (1900–), Leipzig: Teubner; Berlin: De Gruyter; open-access ed., Munich: Bayerische Akademie der Wissenschaften
6. ^ a b Georges, Karl Ernst (1913–1918), Ausführliches lateinisch-deutsches Handwörterbuch, 8th ed., ed. Heinrich Georges, Hannover; Leipzig: Hahn
7. ^ a b c d Köbler, Gerhard (2010), Lateinisches Abkunfts- und Wirkungswörterbuch für Altertum und Mittelalter, online ed., koeblergerhard.de
8. ^ Mittellateinisches Wörterbuch bis zum ausgehenden 13. Jahrhundert (1967–), Munich: C. H. Beck; Bayerische Akademie der Wissenschaften
9. ^ a b Harper, Douglas. Online Etymology Dictionary, https://www.etymonline.com