addict English · revision 1630

+ ==Pronunciation==

+ * IPA: /ˈæd.ɪkt/, /əˈdɪkt/^(Wiktionary)

+

+ ==Etymology==

+ It is [[bor|la|addictus]],^(Barnhart 1995)^(Etymonline)^(MW Collegiate)^(RHWU) the past participle of [[la|addīcere]] “to deliver, award, adjudge”,^(AHD)^(Barnhart 1995)^(Etymonline) from [[la|ad-|t=to]] and [[la|dīcere|t=to say; to adjudge]].^(AHD)^(Etymonline)^(MW Collegiate) The root is the Proto-Indo-European [[m|ine-pro|*deyḱ-|alt=*deik-]] “to show, pronounce solemnly”.^(AHD)^(Etymonline)

+

+ ==Earliest recorded meaning==

+ As a participial adjective, formally made over or bound to someone (1529).^(OED 1989) The verb, “to devote or give oneself up to a habit or occupation”, dates from the 1530s.^(Etymonline)^(Barnhart 1995)^(MW Collegiate)

+

+ ==Semantic evolution==

+ In Roman law ''addicere'' meant to hand over a person or property by a judge's sentence,^(Etymonline)^(RHWU) and early English used the verb the same way.^(OED 1989) The idea of being “made over” to something shifted to devoting oneself to a practice,^(OED 1989)^(Etymonline) usually a bad one.^(Etymonline) The noun appeared in 1909, first of morphine users,^(Etymonline)^(Barnhart 1995)^(MW Collegiate)^(OED 1989) and by the 20th century ''addicted'' had become chiefly a word for dependence on drugs, while ''addict'' was also used of an enthusiast.^(MW Collegiate)^(AHD)

+

+ ==Timeline==

+ * 1529 – adjective, bound or devoted to another.^(OED 1989)

+ * 1534 – verb, to devote oneself to something.^(Barnhart 1995)^(MW Collegiate)

+ * 1586 – to deliver over by a judge's sentence, now obsolete.^(OED 1989)

+ * 1641 – ''addiction''.^(Barnhart 1995)

+ * 1909 – noun, one addicted to a drug.^(Etymonline)^(Barnhart 1995)^(MW Collegiate)^(OED 1989)

+ * 1939 – ''addicting'', in the sense of “addictive”.^(OED 1989)

+

+ ==Modern meaning==

+ ===Noun===

+ # A person who depends on a [[habit-forming]] substance, especially a [[narcotic]].^(AHD)^(MW Collegiate)^(RHWU)^(Wiktionary)

+ # A keen enthusiast or [[devotee]].^(AHD)^(MW Collegiate)^(Wiktionary)

+

+ ===Verb===

+ # To make someone dependent on a substance or activity.^(AHD)^(MW Collegiate)^(RHWU)

+ # To give oneself over habitually or obsessively to something.^(AHD)^(MW Collegiate)^(RHWU)

+

+ ==Word family==

+ * [[addictive]]

+ * [[drug addict]]

+

+ ==Related words==

+ * [[addiction]]

+ * [[dictate]]

+ * [[diction]]

+

+ ==Usage notes==

+ Random House lists ''adherent'', ''devotee'', ''fanatic'' and ''junkie'' as synonyms.^(RHWU)

+

+ ==References==

+ {{reflist}}