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iamdudum

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Etymology and origin of the Latin word iamdudum

Confidence
Established
Formation
Compound
First attested
c. 250–184 BC, Plautus
Ultimate origin
Latin (iam,dūdum)
Etymology tree
inherited borrowed derived
Latin iam
Latin iamdudum

Pronunciation

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

Forms

iamdūdum (not comparable)[1] It is also written as two words, and Plautus splits it.[2]

Etymology

It is from Latin iam (“now, already”) + dūdum (“for a long time”).[1][3] De Vaan explains dūdum as a root “long (time)”, the zero grade of Proto-Indo-European *duh₂- (“far, long”), with the enclitic -dum; he compares Ancient Greek δήν (dḗn, “long”).[4] He takes iam as an old accusative of a pronoun, Proto-Indo-European *h₁i-h₂-m (“this”), first “as far as this is concerned”, then “now”.[4]

Earliest recorded meaning

Köbler's first source is Plautus,[3] who has “I told you long ago”.[2]

Semantic evolution

It means long since or a long time ago, and with the present or imperfect that something has gone on for a long time, as Terence's “I've been here for a long time” and Ovid's “I had long been weeping”.[2] Cicero uses it of someone long awaited and of something he has long been urging.[2] In poetry it also means at once or forthwith, as Virgil's “take your vengeance at once” and often in Ovid.[2] Church Latin glosses it “now, for a long time”.[5]

Timeline

  • c. 250–184 BC – Plautus of something said long ago.[2][3]
  • 190–159 BC – Terence of having been somewhere a long time.[2][3]
  • 81–43 BC – Cicero of a man long awaited.[2][3]
  • 70–19 BC – Virgil in the sense “at once”.[2][3]

Meanings

Adverb

  1. Long since, a long time ago; for a long time now.[2][5][1]
  2. (poetic) At once, forthwith.[2]

References

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

“Iamdudum.” Etymologically, 19 Oct. 2026, etymologically.com/la/iamdudum. Accessed 20 Oct. 2026.

Last edited on . ·