diverto

Pronunciation

• IPA (Classical): [diːˈwɛr.toː]^[1]
• IPA (Ecclesiastical): [diˈvɛr.to]^[1]

Forms

dīvertō (present infinitive dīvertere, perfect active dīvertī, supine dīversum); third conjugation^[1]

Etymology

It is from dis- “apart” and vertō “to turn”.^[2][1][3] The spelling ⟨dīvortō⟩ was apparently usual in Plautus' time and was later used by archaizing writers, and manuscripts confuse it with dēvertō.^[2][4]

Earliest recorded meaning

The OLD's earliest citations are from Plautus, of separating from a partner and of diverging.^[2] Köbler dates Plautus c. 250–184 BC.^[5]

Semantic evolution

It meant to separate oneself from a marriage partner or associate, to divorce, as in Plautus, Gellius and the Digest, and to be different, diverge.^[2][6] Lewis and Short call the finite verb rare and not classical.^[7] In the Vulgate it meant to turn aside, go away.^[6]

In Ecclesiastical Latin it meant to turn away or aside, differ, deviate.^[8] It survives in Italian divertire and French divertir, and Old French divertir gave English divert in the early 15th century, “to turn aside”.^[1][3] Its participle dīversus gave English diverse, and dīvortium gave English divorce.^[3]

Timeline

• c. 250–184 BC – Plautus uses it of separating.^[2][5]
• c. 165 AD – Gellius uses it of divorce.^[6][5]
• 390–406 AD – The Vulgate uses it of turning aside.^[6][5]
• early 15th century – English divert is recorded.^[3]

Meanings

Verb

1. To separate (from a partner); to divorce.^[2]
2. To differ, diverge.^[2]
3. (Late Latin) To turn aside.^[6][8]

Word family

• diversiō

Related words

• diversitas
• diversus
• vertō
• dīvortium
• English divert
• English diverse

References

1. ^ a b c d e Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
2. ^ a b c d e f g Glare, P. G. W., ed. (2012), Oxford Latin Dictionary, 2nd ed., Oxford: Oxford University Press
3. ^ a b c d Harper, Douglas. Online Etymology Dictionary, https://www.etymonline.com
4. ^ Thesaurus linguae Latinae (1900–), Leipzig: Teubner; Berlin: De Gruyter; open-access ed., Munich: Bayerische Akademie der Wissenschaften
5. ^ a b c d Köbler, Gerhard (2010), Lateinisches Abkunfts- und Wirkungswörterbuch für Altertum und Mittelalter, online ed., koeblergerhard.de
6. ^ a b c d e Gaffiot, Félix (2016), Dictionnaire latin-français, new ed. by Gérard Gréco et al. (Gaffiot 2016), online ed.
7. ^ Lewis, Charlton T.; Short, Charles (1879), A Latin Dictionary, Oxford: Clarendon Press
8. ^ a b Stelten, Leo F. (1995), Dictionary of Ecclesiastical Latin, Peabody, Mass.: Hendrickson