Etymologically
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dummodo

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Pronunciation

  • Classical: [ˈdʊm.mɔ.dɔ][1]
  • Ecclesiastical: [ˈdum.mo.do][1]

Forms

dummodo (conjunction)[2] It is also written as two words, and its parts can be separated by other words.[2][3]

Etymology

It is from Latin dum (“while, as long as”) + modo (“only”).[2] The adverb modo is a derivative of modus (“measure”),[4] which de Vaan traces to Proto-Italic *medo- (“measure, judgement”) and Proto-Indo-European *med-o- (“measure”).[4] Cognate with Umbrian meřs (“law”).[4]

Earliest recorded meaning

Lewis & Short's first examples are in Plautus, as “I do the same, provided you give me one who is profitable”.[3]

Semantic evolution

It introduces a condition, with the subjunctive: provided that, if only, as long as.[2] Cicero uses it often, also in the negative dummodo nē, and Ovid has “provided he is rich, the barbarian pleases”.[3] Terence splits it, as in “it is nothing to me, provided I only suffer it”.[3] Church Latin glosses it “provided that, if only, as long as”,[5] and Köbler records it in Justinian's Code and in medieval law codes and charters.[6]

Timeline

  • c. 250–184 BC – Plautus of a condition.[3][6]
  • 190–159 BC – Terence with its parts separated.[3][6]
  • 81–43 BC – Cicero, also with nē.[3][6]
  • 43 BC–18 AD – Ovid of the rich barbarian who pleases.[3][6]

Meanings

Conjunction

  1. Provided that, if only, as long as, with the subjunctive;[2][3][5][1] dummodo nē, provided that not.[2][3][5][1]

References

  1. ^ a b c d Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
  2. ^ a b c d e f Glare, P. G. W., ed. (2012), Oxford Latin Dictionary, 2nd ed., Oxford: Oxford University Press
  3. ^ a b c d e f g h i j Lewis, Charlton T.; Short, Charles (1879), A Latin Dictionary, Oxford: Clarendon Press
  4. ^ a b c 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 Stelten, Leo F. (1995), Dictionary of Ecclesiastical Latin, Peabody, Mass.: Hendrickson
  6. ^ a b c d e Köbler, Gerhard (2010), Lateinisches Abkunfts- und Wirkungswörterbuch für Altertum und Mittelalter, online ed., koeblergerhard.de