Etymologically
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traduco

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Pronunciation

  • IPA (Classical): [traːˈduː.koː][1]
  • IPA (Ecclesiastical): [traˈduː.ko][1]

Forms

trādūcō (present infinitive trādūcere, perfect active trādūxī, supine trāductum); third conjugation, irregular short imperative[1]

Etymology

It is from Latin trans- + duco (“to lead”), also written trānsdūcō.[2][3] Lewis & Short note that Caesar always uses the full form.[4]

Earliest recorded meaning

Plautus has a character ask whether a neighbour has been brought over to help, with the short perfect trāduxtī.[2][4] Köbler dates Plautus c. 250–184 BC.[5]

Semantic evolution

It meant to bring or lead across, to make an army cross a river, as Caesar led troops across the Rhine.[2][6] It also meant to lead past in a parade, especially captives and booty, and so to expose to public ridicule or disgrace.[2][1] It meant to display, to pass time, to bring someone over to another view, and to transfer a person to another status, as Cicero complains that his enemy was transferred to the plebs.[2] Grammarians used it of deriving one word from another, as in Gellius.[2][1] It also meant to translate a word from one language to another.[1]

English traduce is recorded in the 1530s as “alter, transport”, from the Latin senses “convert” and “make a show of, disgrace”.[7]

Timeline

  • c. 250–184 BC – Plautus uses it of bringing someone over.[2][5]
  • 81–43 BC – Cicero uses it of transferring a man to the plebs.[2][5]
  • c. 50 BC – Caesar uses transduco of leading troops across the Rhine.[6][5]
  • c. 165 AD – Gellius uses it of deriving a word.[2][5]
  • 1530s – Borrowed into English as traduce.[7]

Meanings

Verb

  1. To lead, bring or carry across.[2][4]
  2. To lead past in a parade; to expose to ridicule, disgrace.[2][1]
  3. To display, make known.[2][1]
  4. To spend, pass time.[2][1]
  5. To bring over, convert; to transfer to another status.[2]
  6. (grammar) To derive; to translate.[2][1]

Word family

  • trāductiō
  • trāductīvus
  • trāductor
  • traductus
  • trādux
  • abdūcō
  • addūcō
  • circumdūcō
  • condūcō
  • dēdūcō
  • dīdūcō
  • dūcō
  • ēdūcō
  • indūcō
  • intrōdūcō
  • English traduce

References

  1. ^ a b c d e f g h i j Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
  2. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m n o Glare, P. G. W., ed. (2012), Oxford Latin Dictionary, 2nd ed., Oxford: Oxford University Press
  3. ^ Georges, Karl Ernst (1913–1918), Ausführliches lateinisch-deutsches Handwörterbuch, 8th ed., ed. Heinrich Georges, Hannover; Leipzig: Hahn
  4. ^ a b c Lewis, Charlton T.; Short, Charles (1879), A Latin Dictionary, Oxford: Clarendon Press
  5. ^ a b c d e Köbler, Gerhard (2010), Lateinisches Abkunfts- und Wirkungswörterbuch für Altertum und Mittelalter, online ed., koeblergerhard.de
  6. ^ a b Gaffiot, Félix (2016), Dictionnaire latin-français, new ed. by Gérard Gréco et al. (Gaffiot 2016), online ed.
  7. ^ a b Harper, Douglas. Online Etymology Dictionary, https://www.etymonline.com