Etymologically
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ducto

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Pronunciation

  • Classical: [ˈdʊk.toː][1]
  • Ecclesiastical: [ˈduk.to][1]

Forms

ductō (present infinitive ductāre, perfect active ductāvī, supine ductātum); first conjugation[1]

Etymology

It is from Latin dūcō (“to lead”) + -tō, a frequentative.[2][1][3] De Vaan derives all the forms in ⟨duct-⟩ from the participle ⟨ductus⟩, and traces dūcō to Proto-Italic *douk-e- and Proto-Indo-European *deuk-e/o- (“to draw”).[4]

Earliest recorded meaning

It is frequent in Plautus,[5] who uses it of hauling someone off and of taking a prostitute home.[2] Ennius has it in his tragedies, where Apollo delights and charms the speaker.[2]

Semantic evolution

Lewis & Short find it very often in Plautus, otherwise perhaps only in Terence, Sallust and once in Tacitus, never in Cicero, Caesar or the Augustan poets.[5] It means to lead or take someone along, as in Plautus' phrase for hauling a man off, and in particular to take a prostitute home.[2] Sallust uses it of leading an army through wooded country, and so of commanding troops.[2] It also means to charm or allure, as in Ennius, and to lead on, deceive: in the Captivi someone has been led on with tricks just as the other pleased.[2] Terence uses it of pulling a rope in a dance.[2]

Timeline

  • 204–169 BC – Ennius of being charmed.[2]
  • c. 250–184 BC – Plautus of leading and deceiving.[2][5]
  • 190–159 BC – Terence of pulling a rope.[2]
  • 86–34 BC – Sallust of leading an army.[2][5]

Meanings

Verb

  1. To lead, conduct, take along; to take home (a prostitute).[2][5][1][6]
  2. To lead, command (troops).[2][5]
  3. To charm, allure.[2][1]
  4. To lead on, deceive.[2][1]
  5. To draw, pull (a rope).[2]

Word family

  • ductitō

References

  1. ^ a b c d e f g Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
  2. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m n o p Glare, P. G. W., ed. (2012), Oxford Latin Dictionary, 2nd ed., Oxford: Oxford University Press
  3. ^ Thesaurus linguae Latinae (1900–), Leipzig: Teubner; Berlin: De Gruyter; open-access ed., Munich: Bayerische Akademie der Wissenschaften
  4. ^ de Vaan, Michiel (2008), Etymological Dictionary of Latin and the other Italic Languages, Leiden Indo-European Etymological Dictionary Series 7, Leiden; Boston: Brill
  5. ^ a b c d e f Lewis, Charlton T.; Short, Charles (1879), A Latin Dictionary, Oxford: Clarendon Press
  6. ^ Stelten, Leo F. (1995), Dictionary of Ecclesiastical Latin, Peabody, Mass.: Hendrickson