dispergo Latin · revision 30868

+ {{infobox|confidence=established|formation=derivation|attested=190–159 BC, Terence|origins=la dis-, ine-pro *sp(e)r-g-}}

+

+ ==Pronunciation==

+ * Classical: [dɪsˈpɛr.ɡoː]^(Wiktionary)

+ * Ecclesiastical: [disˈpɛr.ɡo]^(Wiktionary)

+

+ ==Forms==

+ '''dispergō''' (present infinitive dispergere, perfect active dispersī, supine dispersum); third conjugation^(Wiktionary)

+ It is also spelled ''dispargō'', usually in late Latin and some manuscripts.^(OLD 2012)^(Lewis & Short 1879)

+

+ ==Etymology==

+ It is formed [[af|la|dis-|spargō|t1=apart|t2=to scatter]].^(OLD 2012)^(Wiktionary)^(Etymonline) De Vaan traces [[m|la|spargō]] to [[itc-pro|*sparg-]] and [[ine-pro|*sp(e)r-g-|t=to strew]], cognate with [[hit|išpār-|t=to spread out, strew]] and [[grc|σπείρω|tr=speírō|t=to strew, sow]]; he rejects the older link with words for crackling sounds.^(de Vaan 2008)

+

+ ==Earliest recorded meaning==

+ De Vaan's first author is Terence.^(de Vaan 2008) In the ''Adelphoe'' a man threatens: ''an tibi iam māvīs cerebrum dispergam hīc?'', “would you rather I scatter your brains here?”^(OLD 2012)

+

+ ==Semantic evolution==

+ It is to scatter or spread about, and of people or animals to disperse: Varro contrasts goats, which scatter, with sheep, which flock together.^(OLD 2012) Places such as islands are said to be scattered along a coast (Mela), and abstract things spread out, as Cicero's war divided and dispersed so widely.^(OLD 2012) It is also to spread out in all directions, of light, and to bespatter.^(OLD 2012)

+

+ Church Latin glosses it “scatter, disperse, spread”.^(Stelten 1995) English ''disperse'' (late 14th century) comes from its participle ''dispersus''.^(Etymonline)

+

+ ==Timeline==

+ * 190–159 BC – Terence of scattering brains.^(de Vaan 2008)^(OLD 2012)^(Köbler 2010)

+ * 116–27 BC – Varro of goats scattering.^(OLD 2012)^(Köbler 2010)

+ * 81–43 BC – Cicero of a widely scattered war.^(OLD 2012)^(Köbler 2010)

+ * late 14th century – English [[m|en|disperse]].^(Etymonline)

+

+ ==Meanings==

+ ===Verb===

+ # To [[m|en|scatter]], spread about, [[m|en|disperse]].^(OLD 2012)^(Wiktionary)^(Stelten 1995)

+ # To spread out in all directions.^(OLD 2012)

+ # To [[m|en|sprinkle]], bespatter.^(OLD 2012)

+

+ ==Word family==

+ * [[dispersim]]

+ * [[dispersiō]]

+ * [[dispersus]]

+

+ ==Related words==

+ * [[spargō]]

+ * [[aspergō]]

+ * [[cōnspergō]]

+ * [[en|disperse]]

+

+ ==References==

+ {{reflist}}