Where does “dit” come from?
Dit comes from Old French dite, from Latin dicere meaning "to say," ultimately from Proto-Indo-European deyḱ-.
dit (English): To stop up; block (an opening); close compare Scots
Definitions
- To stop up; block (an opening); close compare Scots
Ancestry of “dit”, step by step
dit traces back through two separate lines of ancestry.
via French dît
| Step | Language | Word | Meaning |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | French | dît | third-person singular imperfect subjunctive of... |
| 2 | Old French | dit | word; story; tale; past participle of dire |
| 3 | Latin | dictus | said, uttered; mentioned, spoken, having been... |
| 4 | Latin | dīcō | to say, talk, speak, utter, mention |
| 5 | Latin | -tiō | tion, -ation, -ing |
| 6 | Latin | dissertātiō | (spoken) dissertation, discourse, disquisition |
| 7 | Latin | dissertus | arranged, disposed; explained |
| 8 | Latin | disserere | second-person singular future passive indicative... |
| 9 | Latin | dis- | asunder, apart, in two; reversal, removal;... |
| 10 | Latin | calceus | shoe |
| 11 | Latin | calx | limestone; chalk; the finish line |
| 12 | Ancient Greek | χάλιξ | small stone, pebble; gravel, rubble |
via Middle English ditten
| Step | Language | Word | Meaning |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Middle English | ditten | — |
| 2 | Old English | dyttan | to stop up, clot; to stop up, close |
| 3 | Proto-Germanic | duttijaną | to stop up, to block, to close; to meddle |
| 4 | Proto-Germanic | -janą | Derives denominatives from nouns and factitives... |
| 5 | Proto-Indo-European | -yéti | Creates intransitive, often deponent,... |
| 6 | Proto-Indo-European | yé- | — |
| 7 | Chichewa | iye | he, she |