English
predicant
Predicant comes from Latin praedicāns ‘proclaiming, declaring publicly’, from dicō ‘dedicate, assign to’, and perhaps ultimately from Proto-Indo-European *h₂yew- ‘straight, upright, right’.
- Proto-Indo-Europeanc. 4500–2500 BCE*h₂yew-1‘straight, upright, right’uncertain
- Proto-Indo-Europeanc. 4500–2500 BCE*h₂yéwos1uncertain
- Proto-Italicc. 1500–700 BCE*jowos1‘court of law’uncertain
- Latinc. 75 BCE–200 CEiūs1‘law, right’uncertain
- Latinc. 75 BCE–200 CEiūdex1‘judge’uncertain
- Latinc. 75 BCE–200 CEiūdicō2‘to judge’uncertain
- Latinc. 75 BCE–200 CEdicō3‘dedicate, assign to’
- Latinc. 75 BCE–200 CEpraedicō4‘proclaim’
- Latinc. 75 BCE–200 CEpraedicāns5‘proclaiming, declaring publicly’
- Englishtodaypredicant5
attested reconstructed ? uncertain or disputed deepest recorded ancestor
- 1 Wiktionary, Latin iudico
- 2 Wiktionary, Latin dico, which cites de Vaan
- 3 Wiktionary, Latin praedico
- 4 Wiktionary, Latin praedicans
- 5 Wiktionary, English predicant
Lineage
- Proto-Indo-Europeanc. 4500–2500 BCE*h₂yew-Wiktionary, Latin iudico‘straight, upright, right’uncertain
- Proto-Indo-Europeanc. 4500–2500 BCE*h₂yéwosWiktionary, Latin iudicouncertain
- Proto-Italicc. 1500–700 BCE*jowosWiktionary, Latin iudico‘court of law’uncertain
- Latinc. 75 BCE–200 CEiūsWiktionary, Latin iudico‘law, right’uncertain
- Latinc. 75 BCE–200 CEiūdexWiktionary, Latin iudico‘judge’uncertain
- Latinc. 75 BCE–200 CEiūdicōWiktionary, Latin dico, which cites de Vaan‘to judge’uncertain
- Latinc. 75 BCE–200 CEdicōWiktionary, Latin praedico‘dedicate, assign to’
- Latinc. 75 BCE–200 CEpraedicōWiktionary, Latin praedicans‘proclaim’
- Latinc. 75 BCE–200 CEpraedicānsWiktionary, English predicant‘proclaiming, declaring publicly’
- EnglishtodaypredicantWiktionary, English predicant
Linked words
through Proto-Indo-European *h₂yew- ‘straight, upright, right’
yet, jurist, injurious, 23 more
through Proto-Indo-European *h₂yéwos
justify, injustice, justification, 22 more
through Proto-Italic *jowos ‘court of law’
through Latin iūs ‘law, right’
through Latin iūdex ‘judge’
through Latin iūdicō ‘to judge’
judge, judgment, judicial, judiciary, prejudice, judicious, adjudicate, judicature, 12 more
through Latin dicō ‘dedicate, assign to’
index, indicate, dictionary, indication, indicator, dedication, dictator, addict, dictate, ditto, contradictory, contradiction, contradict, dedicate, ditty, diction, dictum, interdict, dict, indicia, 24 more
through Latin praedicō ‘proclaim’
Today it means
adj Predicating; affirming; declaring; proclaiming.
Sources
Sources: Wiktionary, “predicant”; the older steps come from the Wiktionary entries for Latin iudico, Latin dico, Latin praedico, Latin praedicans. 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- / predicant