Etymograph

English

dilate

Dilate comes from Latin dīlātō ‘to spread out’, and goes back to lātus ‘wide’.

  1. Latinc. 75 BCE–200 CElātus‘wide’
  2. Latin, derivedc. 75 BCE–200 CEdīlātō‘to spread out’
  3. Old Frenchc. 842–1400dilater
  4. Middle Englishc. 1150–1500dilaten
  5. Englishearliest quotation c. 1594dilate

attested reconstructed ? uncertain or disputed

Earlier history not traced here.

Lineage

  1. Latinc. 75 BCE–200 CElātus‘wide’
  2. Latin, derivedc. 75 BCE–200 CEdīlātō‘to spread out’
  3. Old Frenchc. 842–1400dilater
  4. Middle Englishc. 1150–1500dilaten
  5. Englishearliest quotation c. 1594dilate

Earliest quotation: c. 1594, William Shakespeare, The Comedie of Errors: “Do me the favour to dilate at full /…”

first attested First attested in 1393 (as stated in the etymology)

The story

First attested in 1393, in Middle English; inherited from Middle English dilaten, from Old French dilater, from Latin dīlātō (‘to spread out’), from dī- + lātus (‘wide’) + -ō (verb-forming suffix).

Linked words

through Latin lātus ‘wide’

le, latitude, collateral, lateral, 12 more

Today it means

verb To enlarge; to make bigger.

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

Etymograph / Latin lātus / dilate

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