Etymologically
Log in

ludifico

This is the current revision of this entry, as edited by bogdan on 20 October 2026 at 07:38. This address is a permanent link to this version.
Changes in this edit History

Pronunciation

  • Classical: [ɫuːˈdɪ.fɪ.koː][1]
  • Ecclesiastical: [luˈdiː.fi.ko][1]

Forms

lūdificō (present infinitive lūdificāre, perfect active lūdificāvī, supine lūdificātum); first conjugation[1] There is also a deponent lūdificor.[2] Plautus has the archaic passive infinitive lūdificārier.[3]

Etymology

It is from Latin lūdus (“game, sport”) + -ficō (“making”), “to make sport of”.[2][3][1]

Earliest recorded meaning

Plautus uses it often: in the Bacchides someone boasts how neatly he has fooled his master, and in the Captivi someone sees that he is being made a fool of.[3]

Semantic evolution

Beside Plautus, Lewis & Short cite Lucretius, and Cicero has it once, used absolutely, of hiding and evading for a long time.[3] The ancient grammarians discussed whether the active or the deponent form was correct.[2] From it come lūdificātiō and lūdificātus.[1]

Timeline

  • c. 250–184 BC – Plautus, of making a fool of someone.[3][2]
  • 96–55 BC – Lucretius has the verb.[3][4]
  • 81–43 BC – Cicero, of evading by delay.[3][4]

Meanings

Verb

  1. To make sport of, make a fool of, mock.[3][1]
  2. To delude, deceive; used absolutely, to put off by evasion.[3]

Word family

  • lūdificātiō
  • lūdificātus

References

  1. ^ a b c d e f Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
  2. ^ a b c d Thesaurus linguae Latinae (1900–), Leipzig: Teubner; Berlin: De Gruyter; open-access ed., Munich: Bayerische Akademie der Wissenschaften
  3. ^ a b c d e f g h i Lewis, Charlton T.; Short, Charles (1879), A Latin Dictionary, Oxford: Clarendon Press
  4. ^ a b Köbler, Gerhard (2010), Lateinisches Abkunfts- und Wirkungswörterbuch für Altertum und Mittelalter, online ed., koeblergerhard.de