Etymograph

English

dicacity

Dicacity comes from Latin dicācitās ‘biting wit, raillery, banter’, from dicāx ‘talkative’, and ultimately from Proto-Indo-European *deyḱ- ‘to show’.

  1. Proto-Indo-Europeanc. 4500–2500 BCE*deyḱ-1‘to show’reconstructed
  2. Proto-Indo-Europeanc. 4500–2500 BCE*déyḱeti2‘to show, point out’reconstructed
  3. Proto-Italicc. 1500–700 BCE*deikō2‘to show, indicate’reconstructed
  4. Latinc. 75 BCE–200 CEdīcō3‘to speak, tell’
  5. Latinc. 75 BCE–200 CEdicāx3‘talkative’
  6. Latinc. 75 BCE–200 CEdicācitās3‘biting wit, raillery, banter’
  7. Old Frenchc. 842–1400dicacité3
  8. Middle Englishc. 1150–1500dicacite3
  9. Englishtodaydicacity3

attested reconstructed ? uncertain or disputed deepest recorded ancestor

  1. 1 Wiktionary, Proto-Indo-European *déyḱeti
  2. 2 Wiktionary, Latin dico
  3. 3 Wiktionary, English dicacity

Lineage

  1. Proto-Indo-Europeanc. 4500–2500 BCE*deyḱ-Wiktionary, Proto-Indo-European *déyḱeti‘to show’reconstructed
  2. Proto-Indo-Europeanc. 4500–2500 BCE*déyḱetiWiktionary, Latin dico‘to show, point out’reconstructed
  3. Proto-Italicc. 1500–700 BCE*deikōWiktionary, Latin dico‘to show, indicate’reconstructed
  4. Latinc. 75 BCE–200 CEdīcōWiktionary, English dicacity‘to speak, tell’
  5. Latinc. 75 BCE–200 CEdicāxWiktionary, English dicacity‘talkative’
  6. Latinc. 75 BCE–200 CEdicācitāsWiktionary, English dicacity‘biting wit, raillery, banter’
  7. Old Frenchc. 842–1400dicacitéWiktionary, English dicacity
  8. Middle Englishc. 1150–1500dicaciteWiktionary, English dicacity
  9. EnglishtodaydicacityWiktionary, English dicacity

Linked words

through Proto-Indo-European *deyḱ- ‘to show’

teach, toe, token, digit, indicative, syndicate, syndicalism, tache, 30 more

through Proto-Italic *deikō ‘to show, indicate’

interdiction, indexation, 14 more

through Latin dīcō ‘to speak, tell’

index, indicate, dictionary, predict, indication, dedication, preach, indicator, dictator, addict, contradictory, dictate, contradiction, contradict, dedicate, ditto, predicament, predicate, diction, dictum, interdict, ditty, dict, indicia, 21 more

Today it means

noun pertness; sauciness

Sources

Sources: Wiktionary, “dicacity”; the older steps come from the Wiktionary entries for Proto-Indo-European *déyḱeti, Latin dico. 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 / Proto-Indo-European *deyḱ- / dicacity

Shirt and support for this word