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perdisco

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Etymology and origin of the Latin word perdisco

Confidence
Established
Formation
Derivation
First attested
c. 250–184 BC, Plautus
Ultimate origin
Proto-Indo-European (*di-dḱ-sḱ-e/o-)
Etymology tree
inherited borrowed derived
Latin disco
Latin dedisco
Latin edisco
Latin perdisco
Latin condisco
Latin addisco

Pronunciation

  • Classical: [pɛrˈdɪs.koː][1]
  • Ecclesiastical: [perˈdis.ko][1]

Forms

perdiscō (present infinitive perdiscere, perfect active perdidicī); third conjugation, no supine stem[1]

Etymology

It is from Latin per- (“thoroughly”) + discō (“to learn”).[2][3][1] De Vaan traces discō to Proto-Italic *dikske/o- and reconstructs Proto-Indo-European *di-dḱ-sḱ-e/o- (“to take, accept”), with reduplication and an iterative suffix, “to take in repeatedly”.[4]

Earliest recorded meaning

The TLL finds it first in Plautus and Cato;[3] the Truculentus opens with ad perdiscendum, “for learning thoroughly”.[5]

Semantic evolution

Cicero uses it most, 21 times by the TLL's count, of learning all the laws of war, of the subject of morals that an orator must master, and of learning to paint a human figure.[3][5] Firmicus Maternus and Augustine use it nine times each.[3] Lewis & Short note that it is rare but classical, and that it can mean to learn by heart.[5] Manuscripts often confuse it with discō.[3] Stelten gives “learn thoroughly”.[6]

Timeline

  • c. 250–184 BC – Plautus, the first instance.[5][3][7]
  • 81–43 BC – Cicero, of mastering a subject.[5][3][7]
  • 354–430 AD – Augustine.[3][7]

Meanings

Verb

  1. To learn thoroughly, master; to learn by heart.[2][5][1][6]

References

  1. ^ a b c d e Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
  2. ^ a b Glare, P. G. W., ed. (2012), Oxford Latin Dictionary, 2nd ed., Oxford: Oxford University Press
  3. ^ a b c d e f g h Thesaurus linguae Latinae (1900–), Leipzig: Teubner; Berlin: De Gruyter; open-access ed., Munich: Bayerische Akademie der Wissenschaften
  4. ^ 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 d e f Lewis, Charlton T.; Short, Charles (1879), A Latin Dictionary, Oxford: Clarendon Press
  6. ^ a b Stelten, Leo F. (1995), Dictionary of Ecclesiastical Latin, Peabody, Mass.: Hendrickson
  7. ^ a b c Köbler, Gerhard (2010), Lateinisches Abkunfts- und Wirkungswörterbuch für Altertum und Mittelalter, online ed., koeblergerhard.de
Cite this entry

“Perdisco.” Etymologically, 20 Oct. 2026, etymologically.com/la/perdisco. Accessed 20 Oct. 2026.

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