Etymograph

English

ditton

Ditton comes from French dicton ‘saying, maxim, proverb, adage’, from Latin dictus ‘said, spoken’, 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. Latinc. 75 BCE–200 CEdictus3‘said, spoken’perfect passive participle of dīcō
  6. Latinc. 75 BCE–200 CEdictum4‘a word, saying, something said’
  7. Frenchc. 1600–presentdicton4‘saying, maxim, proverb, adage’
  8. Englishearliest quotation 1650ditton4

attested reconstructed ? uncertain or disputed deepest recorded ancestor

  1. 1 Wiktionary, Proto-Indo-European *déyḱeti
  2. 2 Wiktionary, Latin dico
  3. 3 Wiktionary, Latin dictum
  4. 4 Wiktionary, English ditton
  5. Earliest quotation in Wiktionary’s entry: 1650, Thomas Fuller, A Pisgah-Sight of Palestine and the Confines Thereof: “Nekeb : this is a ditch, where we may…”.

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, Latin dictum‘to say, to speak’
  5. Latinc. 75 BCE–200 CEdictusWiktionary, Latin dictum‘said, spoken’perfect passive participle of dīcō
  6. Latinc. 75 BCE–200 CEdictumWiktionary, English ditton‘a word, saying, something said’
  7. Frenchc. 1600–presentdictonWiktionary, English ditton‘saying, maxim, proverb, adage’
  8. Englishearliest quotation 1650dittonWiktionary, English ditton. Earliest quotation in Wiktionary’s entry: 1650, Thomas Fuller, A Pisgah-Sight of Palestine and the Confines Thereof: “Nekeb : this is a ditch, where we may…”

first attested First attested in the late 16th century (as stated in Wiktionary’s etymology)

The story

First attested in the late 16th century.

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’

indexation, 15 more

through Latin dīcō ‘to say, to speak’

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

through Latin dictum ‘a word, saying, something said’

dictum, dict

Today it means

noun A motto or saying.

Sources

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

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