Etymologically
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diverto

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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

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