English
dictature
Dictature comes from Classical Latin dictātūra ‘dictatorship, office of a dictator’, from Latin dictātor ‘chief magistrate’, and ultimately from Proto-Indo-European *deyḱ- ‘to show’.
- Proto-Indo-Europeanc. 4500–2500 BCE*deyḱ-1‘to show’reconstructed
- Proto-Indo-Europeanc. 4500–2500 BCE*déyḱeti2‘to show, point out’reconstructed
- Proto-Italicc. 1500–700 BCE*deikō2‘to show, indicate’reconstructed
- Latinc. 75 BCE–200 CEdīcō3‘say, speak’
- Latinc. 75 BCE–200 CEdictō3‘dictate, prescribe’
- Latinc. 75 BCE–200 CEdictātor3‘chief magistrate’
- Classical Latinc. 75 BCE–200 CEdictātūra4‘dictatorship, office of a dictator’
- Middle Frenchc. 1400–1600dictature4
- Middle Englishc. 1150–1500dictature4
- Englishearliest quotation 1605dictature4
attested reconstructed ? uncertain or disputed deepest recorded ancestor
- 1 Wiktionary, Proto-Indo-European *déyḱeti
- 2 Wiktionary, Latin dico
- 3 Wiktionary, Latin dictatura
- 4 Wiktionary, English dictature
- Earliest quotation in Wiktionary’s entry: 1605, Francis Bacon, (please specify |book=1 or 2): “it was in Lucius Syila, to resigne his Dictature”.
Lineage
- Proto-Indo-Europeanc. 4500–2500 BCE*deyḱ-Wiktionary, Proto-Indo-European *déyḱeti‘to show’reconstructed
- Proto-Indo-Europeanc. 4500–2500 BCE*déyḱetiWiktionary, Latin dico‘to show, point out’reconstructed
- Proto-Italicc. 1500–700 BCE*deikōWiktionary, Latin dico‘to show, indicate’reconstructed
- Latinc. 75 BCE–200 CEdīcōWiktionary, Latin dictatura‘say, speak’
- Latinc. 75 BCE–200 CEdictōWiktionary, Latin dictatura‘dictate, prescribe’
- Latinc. 75 BCE–200 CEdictātorWiktionary, Latin dictatura‘chief magistrate’
- Classical Latinc. 75 BCE–200 CEdictātūraWiktionary, English dictature‘dictatorship, office of a dictator’
- Middle Frenchc. 1400–1600dictatureWiktionary, English dictature
- Middle Englishc. 1150–1500dictatureWiktionary, English dictature
- Englishearliest quotation 1605dictatureWiktionary, English dictature. Earliest quotation in Wiktionary’s entry: 1605, Francis Bacon, (please specify |book=1 or 2): “it was in Lucius Syila, to resigne his Dictature”
Equivalent to dictate + -ure
Proto-Indo-European *deyḱ- ‘to show’
…
Latin dīcō ‘say, speak’
Latin dictō ‘pronounce or declare repeatedly’
Latin nominative
Latin dictātum ‘a thing said, something dictated’
English dictate
Linked words
through Proto-Indo-European *deyḱ- ‘to show’
teach, toe, token, digit, indicative, syndicate, syndicalism, tache, 33 more
through Proto-Italic *deikō ‘to show, indicate’
through Latin dīcō ‘say, speak’
index, indicate, indication, dictionary, dedication, preach, indicator, predict, ditto, addict, contradictory, contradiction, dedicate, contradict, predicament, predicate, interdiction, diction, interdict, dictum, indicia, 23 more
through Latin dictō ‘dictate, prescribe’
Today it means
noun Office of a dictator; dictatorship.
Sources
Sources: Wiktionary, “dictature”; the older steps come from the Wiktionary entries for Proto-Indo-European *déyḱeti, Latin dico, Latin dictatura. 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- / dictature