Etymograph

English

dedicate

Dedicate comes from Latin dēdicātus ‘dedicated’, and goes back to dicō.

  1. Latinc. 75 BCE–200 CEdicō1
  2. Latinc. 75 BCE–200 CEdēdicō2‘to dedicate, proclaim’
  3. Latinc. 75 BCE–200 CEdēdicātus2‘dedicated’perfect passive participle of dēdicō
  4. Middle Englishc. 1150–1500dedicat2‘dedicated’
  5. Middle Englishc. 1150–1500dedicaten2‘to dedicate’
  6. Englishearliest quotation 2026dedicate2

attested reconstructed ? uncertain or disputed deepest recorded ancestor

  1. 1 Wiktionary, Latin dedico
  2. 2 Wiktionary, English dedicate
  3. Earliest quotation in Wiktionary’s entry: 2026, Nicholas Muhoro: “Karen and Michael are currently retired in California and…”.

Earlier history not traced here. See Wiktionary.

Lineage

  1. Latinc. 75 BCE–200 CEdicōWiktionary, Latin dedico
  2. Latinc. 75 BCE–200 CEdēdicōWiktionary, English dedicate‘to dedicate, proclaim’
  3. Latinc. 75 BCE–200 CEdēdicātusWiktionary, English dedicate‘dedicated’perfect passive participle of dēdicō
  4. Middle Englishc. 1150–1500dedicatWiktionary, English dedicate‘dedicated’
  5. Middle Englishc. 1150–1500dedicatenWiktionary, English dedicate‘to dedicate’
  6. Englishearliest quotation 2026dedicateWiktionary, English dedicate. Earliest quotation in Wiktionary’s entry: 2026, Nicholas Muhoro: “Karen and Michael are currently retired in California and…”

Linked words

through Latin dicō

index, dictionary, preach, predict, indicate, indication, addict, indicator, contradictory, contradiction, ditto, dictator, contradict, dictate, predicament, ditty, diction, dictum, predicate, interdict, dict, indicia, 23 more

Another origin of dedicate

  1. Middle Englishc. 1150–1500dedicat‘dedicated’
  2. Englishtodaydedicate

The nouns is derived through substantivization from Latin dēdicātus, see -ate (noun-forming suffix).

Today it means

verb To set apart for a deity or for religious purposes; consecrate.

Sources

Sources: Wiktionary, “dedicate”; the older steps come from the Wiktionary entry for Latin dedico. By Wiktionary contributors, CC BY-SA 4.0, via kaikki.org (dump of Oct 3 2026); text adapted and restructured. Language periods are conventional ranges, not dates for this word. License.

Etymograph / Latin dicō / dedicate

Shirt and support for this word