Etymologically
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distribuo

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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

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