Etymologically
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fido

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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

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