English
didactic
Didactic comes from Ancient Greek διδακτικός ‘skilled in teaching’, from διδακτός ‘taught, learnt’, and ultimately from Proto-Indo-European *dens- ‘to teach’.
- Proto-Indo-Europeanc. 4500–2500 BCE*dens-‘to teach’reconstructed
- Proto-Hellenicc. 2200–1600 BCE*di-dəs-skōreconstructed
- Ancient Greekc. 800–300 BCEδιδάσκωdidáskō‘to teach, educate’
- Ancient Greek, derivedc. 800–300 BCEδιδακτόςdidaktós‘taught, learnt’
- Ancient Greek, derivedc. 800–300 BCEδιδακτικόςdidaktikós‘skilled in teaching’
- Frenchc. 1600–presentdidactique
- Englishearliest quotation 1837didactic
attested reconstructed ? uncertain or disputed deepest recorded ancestor
Lineage
- Proto-Indo-Europeanc. 4500–2500 BCE*dens-‘to teach’reconstructed
- Proto-Hellenicc. 2200–1600 BCE*di-dəs-skōreconstructed
- Ancient Greekc. 800–300 BCEδιδάσκωdidáskō‘to teach, educate’
- Ancient Greek, derivedc. 800–300 BCEδιδακτόςdidaktós‘taught, learnt’
- Ancient Greek, derivedc. 800–300 BCEδιδακτικόςdidaktikós‘skilled in teaching’
- Frenchc. 1600–presentdidactique
- Englishearliest quotation 1837didactic
Earliest quotation: 1837, Thomas Carlyle, The French Revolution: A History […]: “Falling Bastilles, Insurrections of Women, thousands of smoking Manorhouses,…”
Equivalent to didact + -ic
Proto-Indo-European *dens- ‘to teach’
Proto-Hellenic *di-dəs-skō
Ancient Greek δῐδᾰ́σκω ‘to teach’
Ancient Greek διδακτός ‘teachable’
English didact
Linked words
through Proto-Indo-European *dens- ‘to teach’
through Proto-Hellenic *di-dəs-skō
Today it means
adj Instructive or intended to teach or demonstrate, especially with regard to morality.
Language periods are conventional ranges, not dates for this word.
Etymograph / Proto-Indo-European *dens- / didactic