Etymograph

English

dice

Dice comes from Old French de ‘of’, from Latin dē ‘of’, and ultimately from Proto-Indo-European *de ‘to, towards’.

  1. Proto-Indo-Europeanc. 4500–2500 BCE*de‘to, towards’reconstructed
  2. Proto-Indo-European, derivedc. 4500–2500 BCE*déh₁‘toward, in the direction of’reconstructed
  3. Proto-Italicc. 1500–700 BCE*dēreconstructed
  4. Latinc. 75 BCE–200 CEdē‘of; concerning; about’
  5. Old Frenchc. 842–1400de‘of’
  6. Old French, derivedc. 842–1400des
  7. Middle Englishc. 1150–1500dys
  8. Englishearliest quotation c. 1597dice

attested reconstructed ? uncertain or disputed

Lineage

  1. Proto-Indo-Europeanc. 4500–2500 BCE*de‘to, towards’reconstructed
  2. Proto-Indo-European, derivedc. 4500–2500 BCE*déh₁‘toward, in the direction of’reconstructed
  3. Proto-Italicc. 1500–700 BCE*dēreconstructed
  4. Latinc. 75 BCE–200 CEdē‘of; concerning; about’
  5. Old Frenchc. 842–1400de‘of’
  6. Old French, derivedc. 842–1400des
  7. Middle Englishc. 1150–1500dys
  8. Englishearliest quotation c. 1597dice

Earliest quotation: c. 1597, William Shakespeare, The First Part of Henry the Fourth, […]: “Virtuous enough; swore little; diced not above seven times…”

The story

The voiceless /s/ was most likely retained because the word felt like a collective term rather than a plural form (compare pence), and the spelling dice is a result of the pronunciation.

Linked words

through Proto-Indo-European *de ‘to, towards’

to, too, 3 more

through Latin dē ‘of’

desire, deserve, departmental, deprive, dorado, deduce, 7 more

through Old French de ‘of’

die

Today it means

noun Gaming with one or more dice.

Language periods are conventional ranges, not dates for this word.

Etymograph / Proto-Indo-European *de / dice

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