Etymologically
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dissimulo

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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

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