do
Pronunciation
Forms
dō (present infinitive dare, perfect active dedī, supine datum); first conjugation, irregular short ă in most forms[1]
Etymology
It is inherited from Proto-Italic *didō, from the root Proto-Indo-European *deh₃- (“to give”).[2][1] Proto-Indo-European had a reduplicated present *di-d(e)h₃- and a root aorist *deh₃-/*dh₃-, and de Vaan takes the Latin present with short a (damus, dare) from the aorist stem, while the reduplication survives in the perfect dedī.[2] The reduplicated present is kept in Oscan didest (“will give”), Umbrian teřa (“may give”) and Paelignian dida.[2] Cognate with Sanskrit ददाति (dádāti, “gives”), Ancient Greek δίδωμι (dídōmi, “I give”) and Lithuanian dúomi (“I give”).[3][1] The OLD notes that in sense it was sometimes confused with the separate verb -dō “to put” of abdō and condō, which goes back to Proto-Indo-European *dʰeh₁- (“to put”).[3][2]
Earliest recorded meaning
De Vaan lists the perfect dedet in the epitaph of a Scipio of about 230 BC and dedit in an inscription of 211 BC.[2] Plautus speaks of a slave given to someone as his own.[3] Köbler dates Plautus c. 250–184 BC.[4]
Semantic evolution
Its core sense was to make a gift of something.[3] It was also used of granting rights, offices and favours, of the gods bestowing things, of a daughter given in marriage, of a feast or games, of paying what is owed and of handing a letter to a courier.[3] It also meant to concede a point in argument, to put or send somewhere, to expose to something, to devote oneself, to produce or cause, and to utter or relate.[3] Set phrases include manūs dare “to surrender” and vēla dare “to set sail”.[3]
Its past participle gave the noun datum “a thing given”, whose plural gave English data in the 1640s.[5] Medieval Latin data, from the Roman habit of ending a letter with where and when it was “given” (datum Rōmae ...), gave English date in the early 14th century.[5] The verb survives in Italian dare, Spanish dar, Portuguese dar and Romanian da.[1]
Timeline
- c. 230 BC – the perfect dedet appears in an epitaph of the Scipios.[2]
- c. 250–184 BC – Plautus speaks of a slave given to someone.[3][4]
- early 14th century – English date is recorded, from the medieval data of letters.[5]
- 1640s – English data is recorded.[5]
Meanings
Verb
- To give, make a gift of.[3]
- To give, grant (a right, office or favour); of the gods, to grant.[3]
- To give (a daughter) in marriage.[3]
- To give (a feast or games).[3]
- To pay (what is due), furnish (levies).[3]
- To hand over, deliver; to send (a letter).[3]
- To appoint, assign.[3]
- To allow (time, opportunity); to concede (a point).[3]
- To put, place, send; to expose, consign (to).[3]
- To devote (oneself to).[3]
- To produce, cause, bring about.[3]
- To utter; to relate, tell.[3]
Word family
- abdō
- addō
- circumdō
- datiō
- datīvus
- datō
- dator
- datum
- datus
- dēdō
- dīdō
Related words
Usage notes
The present has a short a (damus, datis, dare), unlike other first-conjugation verbs, and Old Latin also had a longer form danunt for dant.[3][2] Lewis & Short keep the compounds abdō, condō and indō apart, since their -dō “to put” is a different root.[6] dō is also an old shortened accusative of domus in Ennius.[7]
References
- ^ a b c d e f Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
- ^ a b c d e f g de Vaan, Michiel (2008), Etymological Dictionary of Latin and the other Italic Languages, Leiden Indo-European Etymological Dictionary Series 7, Leiden; Boston: Brill
- ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m n o p q r s t u Glare, P. G. W., ed. (2012), Oxford Latin Dictionary, 2nd ed., Oxford: Oxford University Press
- ^ a b Köbler, Gerhard (2010), Lateinisches Abkunfts- und Wirkungswörterbuch für Altertum und Mittelalter, online ed., koeblergerhard.de
- ^ a b c d Harper, Douglas. Online Etymology Dictionary, https://www.etymonline.com
- ^ Lewis, Charlton T.; Short, Charles (1879), A Latin Dictionary, Oxford: Clarendon Press
- ^ Gaffiot, Félix (2016), Dictionnaire latin-français, new ed. by Gérard Gréco et al. (Gaffiot 2016), online ed.