dono

Forms

dōnō (present infinitive dōnāre, perfect active dōnāvī, supine dōnātum); first conjugation^[1]

Etymology

It is derived from dōnum (“gift”).^[2][3] dōnum goes back to Proto-Italic *dōno- (“gift”) and Proto-Indo-European *deh₃-no- (“gift”) (or ⟨*doh₃-no-⟩), from the root of dō (“to give”).^[2] Oscan and Venetic have verbs of the same kind, so the derivation may go back to Proto-Italic, but they may also be separate creations of each language.^[2]

Cognate with Oscan dunat (“gives”), Venetic donasto (“gave”) and Oscan dunúm (“gift”).^[2]

Earliest recorded meaning

De Vaan dates it from Plautus,^[2] who has adduxī ancillās tibi … duās, īs tē dōnō, “I have brought you two maids, I present you with them”.^[3]

Semantic evolution

Dōnāre is “to present, reward someone with something” (accusative of the person, ablative of the thing), and “to give, grant something to someone” (dative of the person); dōnāre cīvitāte is to make someone a citizen.^[3][4][1] It is used of non-material things, of a field “yielding” a crop, and of handing over or devoting something (Cicero: a life patriae dōnāta, “given to the country”).^[3] It also means “to remit, waive” a debt or claim, and “to excuse, forgive” faults.^[3][1]

Church Latin glosses it “give, grant, forgive, remit a debt”.^[5]

Timeline

• c. 250–184 BC – Plautus: īs tē dōnō.^[3][6]
• 81–43 BC – Cicero: vīta … patriae dōnāta.^[3][6]
• 4 BC–65 AD – Seneca the Elder and Seneca use it of forgiving faults.^[3][6]

Meanings

Verb

1. To present, reward (someone with something).^[3][4][1]
2. To give, grant (something to someone).^[3][4][1][5]
3. dōnāre cīvitāte: to grant citizenship.^[1]
4. To consign, devote; to give up, sacrifice.^[3]
5. To remit, waive (a debt or claim).^[3][5]
6. To excuse, forgive.^[3][1][5]

Word family

• condōnō
• dōnābilis
• dōnāticus
• dōnātiō
• dōnātīvum
• dōnātor
• donatrix
• indonatus
• redōnō
• perdōnō

Related words

• dō
• dōnum

References

1. ^ a b c d e f g h i Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
2. ^ a b c d e de Vaan, Michiel (2008), Etymological Dictionary of Latin and the other Italic Languages, Leiden Indo-European Etymological Dictionary Series 7, Leiden; Boston: Brill
3. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m Glare, P. G. W., ed. (2012), Oxford Latin Dictionary, 2nd ed., Oxford: Oxford University Press
4. ^ a b c Lewis, Charlton T.; Short, Charles (1879), A Latin Dictionary, Oxford: Clarendon Press
5. ^ a b c d Stelten, Leo F. (1995), Dictionary of Ecclesiastical Latin, Peabody, Mass.: Hendrickson
6. ^ a b c Köbler, Gerhard (2010), Lateinisches Abkunfts- und Wirkungswörterbuch für Altertum und Mittelalter, online ed., koeblergerhard.de