English
dicast
Dicast comes from Ancient Greek δικαστής ‘judge’, from δῐ́κη ‘justice’, and ultimately from Proto-Indo-European *deyḱ- ‘to point, show’.
- Proto-Indo-Europeanc. 4500–2500 BCE*deyḱ-1‘to point, show’reconstructed
- Proto-Indo-Europeanc. 4500–2500 BCE*díḱeh₂1reconstructed
- Proto-Hellenicc. 2200–1600 BCE*díkā1‘custom, right’reconstructed
- Ancient Greekc. 800–300 BCEδῐ́κη2‘justice’
- Ancient Greekc. 800–300 BCEδῐκᾰ́ζω3‘to judge’
- Ancient Greekc. 800–300 BCEδικαστής4dikastḗs‘judge’
- Englishearliest quotation 1924dicast4
attested reconstructed ? uncertain or disputed deepest recorded ancestor
- 1 Wiktionary, Ancient Greek δίκη
- 2 Wiktionary, Ancient Greek δικάζω
- 3 Wiktionary, Ancient Greek δικαστής
- 4 Wiktionary, English dicast
- Earliest quotation in Wiktionary’s entry: 1924, Herbert Weir Smyth, VIII. Orestea. III: Eumenides: “The dicast keeps his eyes level in the face…”.
Lineage
- Proto-Indo-Europeanc. 4500–2500 BCE*deyḱ-Wiktionary, Ancient Greek δίκη‘to point, show’reconstructed
- Proto-Indo-Europeanc. 4500–2500 BCE*díḱeh₂Wiktionary, Ancient Greek δίκηreconstructed
- Proto-Hellenicc. 2200–1600 BCE*díkāWiktionary, Ancient Greek δίκη‘custom, right’reconstructed
- Ancient Greekc. 800–300 BCEδῐ́κηWiktionary, Ancient Greek δικάζω‘justice’
- Ancient Greekc. 800–300 BCEδῐκᾰ́ζωWiktionary, Ancient Greek δικαστής‘to judge’
- Ancient Greekc. 800–300 BCEδικαστήςWiktionary, English dicastdikastḗs‘judge’
- Englishearliest quotation 1924dicastWiktionary, English dicast. Earliest quotation in Wiktionary’s entry: 1924, Herbert Weir Smyth, VIII. Orestea. III: Eumenides: “The dicast keeps his eyes level in the face…”
Linked words
through Proto-Indo-European *deyḱ- ‘to point, show’
teach, index, toe, token, indicate, dictionary, predict, indication, digit, indicator, dictator, addict, contradictory, contradiction, dictate, ditto, indicative, contradict, ditty, interdiction, predicate, diction, tache, interdict, dictum, dict, indicia, 31 more
through Ancient Greek δῐ́κη ‘justice’
Today it means
noun A kind of juror.
Sources
Sources: Wiktionary, “dicast”; the older steps come from the Wiktionary entries for Ancient Greek δίκη, Ancient Greek δικάζω, Ancient Greek δικαστής. 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- / dicast