valedico

Pronunciation

• IPA (Classical): [wa.ɫɛˈdiː.koː]^[1]
• IPA (Ecclesiastical): [va.leˈdiː.ko]^[1]

Forms

valedīcō (present infinitive valedīcere, perfect active valedīxī, supine valedictum); third conjugation, irregular short imperative^[1] More often written as two words, valē dīcō.^[2][3]

Etymology

It is from valē “farewell”, the imperative of valeō “to be well”, and dīcō “to say”.^[2][1][4] De Vaan traces ⟨valeō⟩ to Proto-Italic *wal-ē-, Proto-Indo-European *h₂ulh₁-éh₁- (“to be strong”), and compares Oscan ⟨ϝαλε⟩ “farewell”.^[5]

Earliest recorded meaning

Gaffiot cites Seneca's letters, valedīcere alicuī “to say goodbye to someone”.^[4] Köbler dates Seneca 4 BC–65 AD.^[6]

Semantic evolution

It meant to say goodbye, bid farewell, as in Seneca, and Lewis & Short note that it is more often written separately.^[2][3][4]

It survives as Italian valedicere, and English valedict is from it.^[1]

Timeline

• 4 BC–65 AD – Seneca uses it.^[4][6]

Meanings

Verb

1. To say goodbye, bid farewell.^[2][4]

Related words

• valē
• valeō
• dīcō

References

1. ^ a b c d e Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
2. ^ a b c d Glare, P. G. W., ed. (2012), Oxford Latin Dictionary, 2nd ed., Oxford: Oxford University Press
3. ^ a b Lewis, Charlton T.; Short, Charles (1879), A Latin Dictionary, Oxford: Clarendon Press
4. ^ a b c d e Gaffiot, Félix (2016), Dictionnaire latin-français, new ed. by Gérard Gréco et al. (Gaffiot 2016), online ed.
5. ^ de Vaan, Michiel (2008), Etymological Dictionary of Latin and the other Italic Languages, Leiden Indo-European Etymological Dictionary Series 7, Leiden; Boston: Brill
6. ^ a b Köbler, Gerhard (2010), Lateinisches Abkunfts- und Wirkungswörterbuch für Altertum und Mittelalter, online ed., koeblergerhard.de