Etymologically
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dono

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Pronunciation

  • Classical: [ˈdoː.noː][1]
  • Ecclesiastical: [ˈdɔː.no][1]

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

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