Etymograph

English

ditto

Ditto comes from Italian ditto, from dire ‘to say’, 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 say, to speak’
  5. Italianc. 1300–presentdire3‘to say’
  6. Italianc. 1300–presentditto3past participle of dire
  7. Englishearliest quotation 1831ditto3

attested reconstructed ? uncertain or disputed deepest recorded ancestor

  1. 1 Wiktionary, Proto-Indo-European *déyḱeti
  2. 2 Wiktionary, Latin dico
  3. 3 Wiktionary, English ditto
  4. Earliest quotation in Wiktionary’s entry: 1831, Letitia Elizabeth Landon, London: Henry Colburn and Richard Bentley: “[...] they entered a dismal-looking parlour, whose brick-red walls…”.

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 ditto‘to say, to speak’
  5. Italianc. 1300–presentdireWiktionary, English ditto‘to say’
  6. Italianc. 1300–presentdittoWiktionary, English dittopast participle of dire
  7. Englishearliest quotation 1831dittoWiktionary, English ditto. Earliest quotation in Wiktionary’s entry: 1831, Letitia Elizabeth Landon, London: Henry Colburn and Richard Bentley: “[...] they entered a dismal-looking parlour, whose brick-red walls…”

first attested First attested in 1625 (as stated in Wiktionary’s etymology)

The story

First attested in 1625. Not related to English dittography. The specific meaning of making copies of paper comes from ditto machine, a genericization from the brand name of a spirit duplicator.

Full etymology on Wiktionary

Linked words

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

teach, toe, token, indicative, syndicate, digit, syndicalism, tache, 31 more

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

interdiction, indexation, 15 more

through Latin dīcō ‘to say, to speak’

index, indicate, indication, predict, dictionary, dedication, preach, indicator, addict, dictate, dedicate, contradiction, dictator, contradictory, contradict, predicament, predicate, diction, dictum, interdict, dict, indicia, ditty, 22 more

Today it means

noun That which was stated before, the aforesaid, the above, the same, likewise.

Sources

Sources: Wiktionary, “ditto”; 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- / ditto

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