distribuo

Pronunciation

• IPA (Classical): [dɪsˈtrɪ.bu.oː]^[1]
• IPA (Ecclesiastical): [disˈtriː.bu.o]^[1]

Forms

distribuō (present infinitive distribuere, perfect active distribuī, supine distribūtum); third conjugation^[1]

Etymology

It is from dis- “apart” and tribuō “to assign”.^[2][1][3][4]

Earliest recorded meaning

The OLD's earliest citation is from Terence, of sharing out money, and the TLL dates it from Terence and the Rhetorica ad Herennium.^[2][5][3] Köbler dates Terence 190–159 BC.^[6]

Semantic evolution

It meant to divide into shares, share out, as Terence's silver, and in Cicero to distribute, allot functions.^[2][5] In Cicero it meant to distribute people or forces among places, as his king who divided the people into five classes, and in Vitruvius to arrange at intervals.^[2][7] In Cicero it also meant to divide into parts or categories.^[2] Döderlein explains that dīvidere breaks up a whole, while partīrī divides in order to give out the parts.^[8]

In Ecclesiastical Latin it meant to distribute, divide.^[9] It survives in Italian distribuire and French distribuer, and its participle gave English distribute in the early 15th century, distribūtiō gave English distribution.^[1][4]

Timeline

• 190–159 BC – Terence uses it of sharing out.^[2][6]
• 81–43 BC – Cicero uses it of dividing the people into classes.^[7][6]
• c. 84–c. 25 BC – Vitruvius uses it of arranging.^[2][6]
• early 15th century – English distribute is recorded.^[4]

Meanings

Verb

1. To share out, distribute; to allot.^[2]
2. To distribute (people, forces); to arrange.^[2]
3. To divide into parts or categories.^[2]

Word family

• distribūtiō
• distribūtīvus
• distribūtor
• distributrix

Related words

• tribuō
• English distribute
• English distribution

Usage notes

Döderlein distinguishes it from dīvidō and partior.^[8]

References

1. ^ a b c d e 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. ^ a b Thesaurus linguae Latinae (1900–), Leipzig: Teubner; Berlin: De Gruyter; open-access ed., Munich: Bayerische Akademie der Wissenschaften
4. ^ a b c Harper, Douglas. Online Etymology Dictionary, https://www.etymonline.com
5. ^ a b Lewis, Charlton T.; Short, Charles (1879), A Latin Dictionary, Oxford: Clarendon Press
6. ^ a b c d Köbler, Gerhard (2010), Lateinisches Abkunfts- und Wirkungswörterbuch für Altertum und Mittelalter, online ed., koeblergerhard.de
7. ^ a b Gaffiot, Félix (2016), Dictionnaire latin-français, new ed. by Gérard Gréco et al. (Gaffiot 2016), online ed.
8. ^ a b Döderlein, Ludwig (1874), Döderlein’s Hand-book of Latin Synonymes, tr. H. H. Arnold, Andover: W. F. Draper
9. ^ Stelten, Leo F. (1995), Dictionary of Ecclesiastical Latin, Peabody, Mass.: Hendrickson