English
dispatch
Dispatch may come from Spanish despachar ‘to complete, conclude’.
- Spanishc. 1500–presentdespachar‘to complete, conclude’uncertain
- Englishearliest quotation 1548dispatch
attested reconstructed ? uncertain or disputed deepest recorded ancestor
Earlier history uncertain.
Lineage
- Spanishc. 1500–presentdespachar‘to complete, conclude’uncertain
- Englishearliest quotation 1548dispatch
Earliest quotation: 1548, Nicholas Udall: “But whā I had cleane diſpatched myſelf of this…”
first attested The first known use in writing (in the past tense, spelled as dispached) is by Bishop Cuthbert Tunstall in 1517 (as stated in the etymology)
The story
Further etymology is uncertain.uncertain The source flags this step as uncertain. For first element des-, see dis-. The first known use in writing (in the past tense, spelled as dispached) is by Bishop Cuthbert Tunstall in 1517. This would be unusually early for a borrowing from a Romance language other than French, but Tunstall had studied in Italy and was Commissioner to Spain, so this word may have been borrowed through diplomatic circles.
Linked words
through Latin pedis ‘foot’
expedition, expedite, pedantry, pedant, 14 more
through Late Latin pedica ‘shackle’
through Old French empeechier ‘to obstruct, to impede’
Today it means
verb To send (a shipment) with promptness.
Language periods are conventional ranges, not dates for this word.
Etymograph / Spanish despachar / dispatch