Etymograph

English

dicastery

Dicastery comes from Ancient Greek δικαστήριον ‘court, tribunal’, from δίκη ‘right, custom, judgement’, and ultimately from Proto-Indo-European *deyḱ- ‘to point, show’.

  1. Proto-Indo-Europeanc. 4500–2500 BCE*deyḱ-1‘to point, show’reconstructed
  2. Proto-Indo-Europeanc. 4500–2500 BCE*díḱeh₂1reconstructed
  3. Proto-Hellenicc. 2200–1600 BCE*díkā1‘custom, right’reconstructed
  4. Ancient Greekc. 800–300 BCEδίκη2díkē‘right, custom, judgement’
  5. Ancient Greekc. 800–300 BCEδικαστήριον2dikastḗrion‘court, tribunal’
  6. Englishearliest quotation 1910dicastery2

attested reconstructed ? uncertain or disputed deepest recorded ancestor

  1. 1 Wiktionary, Ancient Greek δίκη
  2. 2 Wiktionary, English dicastery
  3. Earliest quotation in Wiktionary’s entry: 1910, William Stearns Davis: “The better cause has conquered; and there is at…”.

Lineage

  1. Proto-Indo-Europeanc. 4500–2500 BCE*deyḱ-Wiktionary, Ancient Greek δίκη‘to point, show’reconstructed
  2. Proto-Indo-Europeanc. 4500–2500 BCE*díḱeh₂Wiktionary, Ancient Greek δίκηreconstructed
  3. Proto-Hellenicc. 2200–1600 BCE*díkāWiktionary, Ancient Greek δίκη‘custom, right’reconstructed
  4. Ancient Greekc. 800–300 BCEδίκηWiktionary, English dicasterydíkē‘right, custom, judgement’
  5. Ancient Greekc. 800–300 BCEδικαστήριονWiktionary, English dicasterydikastḗrion‘court, tribunal’
  6. Englishearliest quotation 1910dicasteryWiktionary, English dicastery. Earliest quotation in Wiktionary’s entry: 1910, William Stearns Davis: “The better cause has conquered; and there is at…”

Linked words

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

index, teach, toe, token, predict, indicate, indication, dictionary, digit, indicator, dictator, addict, contradiction, ditto, indicative, contradictory, contradict, dictate, ditty, diction, predicate, dictum, tache, dict, indicia, 33 more

through Proto-Hellenic *díkā ‘custom, right’

syndicate, syndicalism, 3 more

Today it means

noun A ministry or department of the Roman Curia of the Holy See, whether administrative or ecclesiastical.

Sources

Sources: Wiktionary, “dicastery”; the older steps come from the Wiktionary entry for Ancient Greek δίκη. 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- / dicastery

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