diet English · revision 4381

+ English has two nouns spelled ''diet'': food and a regimen of food, from Greek diaita “way of life”, and a formal assembly, from Medieval Latin dieta, from the same Greek word but associated with Latin dies “day”.^(Barnhart 1988)^(Etymonline)^(Cresswell 2021)

+

+ ==Pronunciation==

+ * IPA: /ˈdaɪ.ət/^(Roach et al. 2011)

+

+ {{homograph|1|food}}

+

+ {{infobox|confidence=established|formation=borrowing|attested=a. 1200|origins=grc δίαιτα}}

+

+ ==Etymology==

+ It is [[inh|enm|diete]],^(Barnhart 1988)^(MWU 2024) [[bor|fro|diete|t=diet, pittance, fare]] (13th century),^(Etymonline)^(Barnhart 1988) from [[la-med|dieta]], from Latin diaeta “prescribed way of life”,^(Etymonline)^(Barnhart 1988) from [[grc|δίαιτα|tr=díaita|t=way of life, regimen, dwelling]],^(Etymonline)^(Barnhart 1988)^(Hoad 1986) related to diaitasthai “to lead one's life” and diaitan, originally “to separate, select” food and drink, also “to arbitrate”,^(Etymonline)^(Barnhart 1988)^(MWU 2024) apparently from *di-ainysthai “to take apart”, from dia- “apart” and ainysthai “to take”.^(Etymonline)^(Barnhart 1988) Watkins traces ainysthai to [[ine-pro|*ai-|t=to give, allot]].^(Etymonline)

+

+ ==Earliest recorded meaning==

+ Regular food: probably before 1200 in Barnhart, in the Ancrene Riwle,^(Barnhart 1988) about 1200 in Etymonline,^(Etymonline) before 1225 in the OED.^(OED 1989)

+

+ ==Semantic evolution==

+ A customary way of eating, and a course of food regulated by a physician, often restricted, are from the late 14th century,^(Etymonline)^(OED 1989) hence ''put someone on a diet'' from the mid-15th century.^(Etymonline) An allowance for living expenses is from before 1483, now obsolete.^(OED 1989) The verb, to regulate one's food for the sake of health, is from the late 14th century,^(Etymonline) and to restrict food especially to lose weight from the 1650s;^(Etymonline) an obsolete word for this was banting.^(Etymonline) The adjective, of drinks or foods with reduced sugar or calories, as in ''Diet Coke'', is from 1963, originally American.^(Etymonline)^(OED 1989)

+

+ ==Timeline==

+ * a. 1200 – food.^(Barnhart 1988)

+ * late 14th century – a regulated diet; verb.^(Etymonline)

+ * mid-15th century – ''put on a diet''.^(Etymonline)

+ * 1650s – to diet to lose weight.^(Etymonline)

+ * 1963 – diet drinks.^(Etymonline)^(OED 1989)

+

+ ==Modern meaning==

+ ===Noun===

+ # The usual [[food]] and drink of a person or animal.^(AHD)^(MW Collegiate)

+ # A selection of foods restricted or regulated, as for medical reasons or to lose weight.^(AHD)^(MW Collegiate)

+ # Something provided or enjoyed regularly: ''a diet of television''.^(AHD)^(MW Collegiate)

+

+ ===Verb===

+ # To eat according to a regulated system, especially to lose weight.^(AHD)^(MW Collegiate)

+

+ ===Adjective===

+ # Having fewer calories than usual: ''diet soda''.^(MW Collegiate)^(OED 1989)

+

+ ==Word family==

+ * [[dietary]]

+ * [[dieter]]

+ * [[dietetic]]

+ * [[dietitian]]

+

+ {{homograph|2|assembly}}

+

+ {{infobox|confidence=established|formation=borrowing|attested=c. 1450|origins=la-med dieta}}

+

+ ==Etymology==

+ It is [[inh|enm|dyet]],^(MWU 2024) [[bor|la-med|dieta|t=day's journey; day's work, wages; meeting of councillors]],^(Barnhart 1988)^(Hoad 1986)^(NODE 1998) a variant of diaeta “daily office of the Church, daily duty, assembly”,^(Barnhart 1988)^(Etymonline) from the same Greek díaita as the food word,^(Barnhart 1988)^(Etymonline) but associated with Latin dies “day”.^(Barnhart 1988)^(Etymonline)^(Cresswell 2021) Medieval Latin dieta was used to translate German Tag as a day of assembly, as in Reichstag.^(Barnhart 1988)

+

+ ==Earliest recorded meaning==

+ A formal assembly: about 1450 in Barnhart,^(Barnhart 1988) the mid-15th century in Etymonline.^(Etymonline) A day's journey, now obsolete, is from about 1290.^(OED 1989)

+

+ ==Semantic evolution==

+ A national lawmaking body is from 1565.^(Barnhart 1988) Since about 1600 English and French writers have used it of the legislative assemblies of Germany and Austria,^(Etymonline) as in the Diet of Worms, where Martin Luther committed himself to Protestant reform.^(Cresswell 2021) In the 17th century it was also the metal scraped from gold and silver plate assayed day by day at the Mint.^(Hoad 1986) In Scotland a diet is the meeting of an ecclesiastical assembly or court on a fixed day.^(Wright 1898)

+

+ ==Timeline==

+ * c. 1290 – a day's journey.^(OED 1989)

+ * c. 1450 – an assembly.^(Barnhart 1988)

+ * 1565 – a national legislature.^(Barnhart 1988)

+ * c. 1600 – of German assemblies.^(Etymonline)

+

+ ==Modern meaning==

+ ===Noun===

+ # A formal assembly or [[legislature]], as in [[Japan]] or formerly in the Holy Roman Empire.^(AHD)^(MW Collegiate)

+ # ''(Scotland)'' The meeting of a court or church assembly on a fixed day.^(Wright 1898)

+

+ ==Related words==

+ * [[diary]]

+

+ ==References==

+ {{reflist}}