Etymograph

English

predicament

Predicament comes from Late Latin praedicāmentum ‘that which is predicated, a predicament,…’, from Latin dicō ‘dedicate, assign to’, and perhaps ultimately from Proto-Indo-European *h₂yew- ‘straight, upright, right’.

  1. Proto-Indo-Europeanc. 4500–2500 BCE*h₂yew-1‘straight, upright, right’uncertain
  2. Proto-Indo-Europeanc. 4500–2500 BCE*h₂yéwos1uncertain
  3. Proto-Italicc. 1500–700 BCE*jowos1‘court of law’uncertain
  4. Latinc. 75 BCE–200 CEiūs1‘law, right’uncertain
  5. Latinc. 75 BCE–200 CEiūdex1‘judge’uncertain
  6. Latinc. 75 BCE–200 CEiūdicō2‘to judge’uncertain
  7. Latinc. 75 BCE–200 CEdicō3‘dedicate, assign to’
  8. Latinc. 75 BCE–200 CEpraedicō4‘to declare, proclaim, predicate’
  9. Late Latinc. 200–600 CEpraedicāmentum5‘that which is predicated, a predicament, category’
  10. Old Frenchc. 842–1400predicament5
  11. Middle Englishc. 1150–1500predicament5
  12. Englishearliest quotation 1978predicament5

attested reconstructed ? uncertain or disputed deepest recorded ancestor

  1. 1 Wiktionary, Latin iudico
  2. 2 Wiktionary, Latin dico, which cites de Vaan
  3. 3 Wiktionary, Latin praedico
  4. 4 Wiktionary, Latin praedicamentum
  5. 5 Wiktionary, English predicament
  6. Earliest quotation in Wiktionary’s entry: 1978, Daniel Bell, The Cultural Contradictions of Capitalism: “Culture, for me, is the effort to provide a…”.

Lineage

  1. Proto-Indo-Europeanc. 4500–2500 BCE*h₂yew-Wiktionary, Latin iudico‘straight, upright, right’uncertain
  2. Proto-Indo-Europeanc. 4500–2500 BCE*h₂yéwosWiktionary, Latin iudicouncertain
  3. Proto-Italicc. 1500–700 BCE*jowosWiktionary, Latin iudico‘court of law’uncertain
  4. Latinc. 75 BCE–200 CEiūsWiktionary, Latin iudico‘law, right’uncertain
  5. Latinc. 75 BCE–200 CEiūdexWiktionary, Latin iudico‘judge’uncertain
  6. Latinc. 75 BCE–200 CEiūdicōWiktionary, Latin dico, which cites de Vaan‘to judge’uncertain
  7. Latinc. 75 BCE–200 CEdicōWiktionary, Latin praedico‘dedicate, assign to’
  8. Latinc. 75 BCE–200 CEpraedicōWiktionary, Latin praedicamentum‘to declare, proclaim, predicate’
  9. Late Latinc. 200–600 CEpraedicāmentumWiktionary, English predicament‘that which is predicated, a predicament, category’
  10. Old Frenchc. 842–1400predicamentWiktionary, English predicament
  11. Middle Englishc. 1150–1500predicamentWiktionary, English predicament
  12. Englishearliest quotation 1978predicamentWiktionary, English predicament. Earliest quotation in Wiktionary’s entry: 1978, Daniel Bell, The Cultural Contradictions of Capitalism: “Culture, for me, is the effort to provide a…”

Linked words

through Proto-Indo-European *h₂yew- ‘straight, upright, right’

yet, 25 more

through Proto-Indo-European *h₂yéwos

justify, injustice, justification, 22 more

through Proto-Italic *jowos ‘court of law’

just, jury, 27 more

through Latin iūs ‘law, right’

justice, juice, jus, 15 more

through Latin iūdex ‘judge’

12 more

through Latin iūdicō ‘to judge’

judge, judicial, judgment, judiciary, prejudice, 15 more

through Latin dicō ‘dedicate, assign to’

index, indicate, dictionary, indication, indicator, dedication, dictator, addict, dictate, ditto, contradictory, contradiction, contradict, dedicate, 30 more

through Latin praedicō ‘to declare, proclaim, predicate’

preach, 7 more

Today it means

noun A definite class, state or condition.

Sources

Sources: Wiktionary, “predicament”; the older steps come from the Wiktionary entries for Latin iudico, Latin dico, Latin praedico, Latin praedicamentum. 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 *h₂yew- / predicament

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