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dudum

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Etymology and origin of the Latin word dudum

Confidence
Probable
Formation
Compound
First attested
c. 250–184 BC, Plautus
Ultimate origin
Proto-Indo-European (*dweh₂-)
Etymology tree
inherited borrowed derived
Latin dudum
Latin iamdudum

Pronunciation

  • Classical: [ˈduː.dũː][1]
  • Ecclesiastical: [ˈduː.dum][1]

Forms

dūdum (adverb)[2][1]

Etymology

It is formed from a root ⟨dū-⟩ “long (time)”, which also gives dūrus (“hard, lasting”), and the enclitic -dum.[3][2] De Vaan traces the root to Proto-Indo-European *dweh₂- (“far, long”).[3][1] Cognate with Ancient Greek δήν (dḗn, “long”), Hittite tūwaz (“from afar”) and Sanskrit दवीयस् (dávīyas-, “further, more distant”).[3][2] Older explanations, as in Lewis & Short, took it from ⟨diu-dum⟩.[4]

Earliest recorded meaning

De Vaan dates it from Plautus,[3] who uses it often, as “the woman who I said a while ago was free”.[2][4]

Semantic evolution

It means some time ago, a little while ago, previously, and with iam (also written iamdudum) “some while ago now”.[2][4] It also means for a long time up to the present, as Plautus' “see how long I have been standing here knocking”, and with iam “now at last”, as in Catullus.[2] Döderlein says that ⟨dudum⟩ refers to a span of minutes or hours, while diū is days, months or years, and prīdem marks a point of time long past.[5]

Church Latin glosses it “just now, a little while ago”, and iam dudum “for a long time”.[6]

Timeline

  • c. 250–184 BC – Plautus of a short while ago and of a long time.[2][3][7]
  • 204–169 BC – Ennius with iam.[2][7]
  • 81/79–52/50 BC – Catullus in the sense “now at last”.[2][7]

Meanings

Adverb

  1. A little while ago, previously, just now;[2][4][1] iam dudum, some while ago now.[2][4][1]
  2. For a long time;[2][6] iam dudum, now at last.[2][6]

Word family

References

  1. ^ a b c d e f Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
  2. ^ 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
  3. ^ 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
  4. ^ a b c d e Lewis, Charlton T.; Short, Charles (1879), A Latin Dictionary, Oxford: Clarendon Press
  5. ^ Döderlein, Ludwig (1874), Döderlein’s Hand-book of Latin Synonymes, tr. H. H. Arnold, Andover: W. F. Draper
  6. ^ a b c Stelten, Leo F. (1995), Dictionary of Ecclesiastical Latin, Peabody, Mass.: Hendrickson
  7. ^ a b c Köbler, Gerhard (2010), Lateinisches Abkunfts- und Wirkungswörterbuch für Altertum und Mittelalter, online ed., koeblergerhard.de

Derived terms

Cite this entry

“Dudum.” Etymologically, 19 Oct. 2026, etymologically.com/la/dudum. Accessed 20 Oct. 2026.

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