fido

Pronunciation

• IPA (Classical): [ˈfiː.doː]^[1]
• IPA (Ecclesiastical): [ˈfiː.do]^[1]

Forms

fīdō (present infinitive fīdere, perfect active fīsus sum); third conjugation, semi-deponent^[1]

Etymology

It is inherited from Proto-Italic *feiþe-, inherited from Proto-Indo-European *bʰeidʰ-e/o- (“to trust”).^[2][1] From the same root came fīdus “faithful” and fidēs “trust”, and also foedus “treaty”.^[2]

Cognate with Umbrian kumpifiatu (“let him announce”),^[2] Ancient Greek πείθομαι (peíthomai, “to obey, trust”) and Gothic 𐌱𐌴𐌹𐌳𐌰𐌽 (beidan, “to wait”) and English bide.^[3][2][4]

Earliest recorded meaning

It is found from Plautus onwards.^[2]

Semantic evolution

It meant to trust, have confidence in, or rely on, with an ablative or dative, as Cicero's prudentia fidens “relying on one's good sense”.^[3][5] Sibi fidere meant to be self-confident, and with an infinitive clause it meant to trust that something was so, as in Livy.^[3][6]

The perfect was the deponent form fīsus sum.^[1] It survives as Italian fidare, French fier and Spanish and Portuguese fiar.^[1] English federal and fidelity come from its relatives foedus and fidelitas.^[7]

Timeline

• c. 250–184 BC – Plautus uses it.^[2][8]
• 81–43 BC – Cicero uses sibi fidere, “to be self-confident”.^[5][8]
• 59 BC–17 AD – Livy uses it with an infinitive clause.^[6][8]

Meanings

Verb

1. To trust, have confidence in.^[3][1]
2. To rely on, count on.^[3][1]
3. sibi fidere: to be self-confident.^[3]

Word family

• cōnfīdō
• diffīdō
• fīdentia
• fidēs
• fīdus
• foedus
• perfīdēns
• praefīdens

Related words

• fidēlis
• English federal

Usage notes

Döderlein distinguishes fidere, trust in someone's strength or help, from credere, belief in someone's good intentions.^[9]

References

1. ^ a b c d e f g h Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
2. ^ a b c d e f 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 Glare, P. G. W., ed. (2012), Oxford Latin Dictionary, 2nd ed., Oxford: Oxford University Press
4. ^ Thesaurus linguae Latinae (1900–), Leipzig: Teubner; Berlin: De Gruyter; open-access ed., Munich: Bayerische Akademie der Wissenschaften
5. ^ a b Gaffiot, Félix (2016), Dictionnaire latin-français, new ed. by Gérard Gréco et al. (Gaffiot 2016), online ed.
6. ^ a b Georges, Karl Ernst (1913–1918), Ausführliches lateinisch-deutsches Handwörterbuch, 8th ed., ed. Heinrich Georges, Hannover; Leipzig: Hahn
7. ^ Harper, Douglas. Online Etymology Dictionary, https://www.etymonline.com
8. ^ a b c Köbler, Gerhard (2010), Lateinisches Abkunfts- und Wirkungswörterbuch für Altertum und Mittelalter, online ed., koeblergerhard.de
9. ^ Döderlein, Ludwig (1874), Döderlein’s Hand-book of Latin Synonymes, tr. H. H. Arnold, Andover: W. F. Draper