dō

Meaning

1. to give
   Tertium non datur.A third [possibility] is not given [the law of excluded middle].
   Honōrā patrem tuum et mātrem tuam, ut sīs longaevus super terram, quam Dominus Deus tuus dabit tibi.Honour thy father and thy mother: that thy days may be long upon the land which the LORD thy God giveth thee.c. 347 CE – 420 CE, Hieronymus, Vulgate Exodus.20.12
2. to impart, offer, render, present with
   Do tibi operam, Aristophontes, si quid est quod me velis.I’m at your service, Aristophontes, if there’s anything you want of me. (literally, “I offer labour to you, Aristophontes…”)c. 200 BCE – 190 BCE, Plautus, Captivi 3.4.85
   causam minus mirabilem dedithe rendered the circumstances less strange27 BCE – 25 BCE, Titus Livius, Ab urbe condita I.14
3. to afford, grant
   Non igitur provocatio ista lege datur, sed duae maxime salutares leges quaestionesque tolluntur. Quid est aliud hortari adulescentis ut turbulenti, ut seditiosi, ut perniciosi cives velint esse?It is not, therefore, a right of appeal that is afforded by that law, but two most salutary laws and modes of judicial investigation that are abolished. And what is this but exhorting young men to be turbulent, seditious, mischievous citizens?44 BCE, Cicero, Philippicae 1.22.7
4. to bestow, confer (on or upon), to yield
   Venit hiems: teritur Sicyonia baca trapetis, glande sues laeti redeunt, dant arbuta silvae; et varios ponit fetus autumnus et alteTranslation by James B. Greenough Winter is come: in olive-mills they bruise The Sicyonian berry; acorn-cheered The swine troop homeward; woods their arbutes yield; So, various fruit sheds Autumn, and high up On sunny rocks the mellowing vintage bakes.c. 37 BCE – 30 BCE, Vergilius, Georgicon 2.519
5. to concede, surrender, yield, deliver, give up
6. to put
7. to adduce (e.g., a witness)

In the readers how our graded readers gloss it

Conjugation conjugation 1 irregular

Phrases from Meissner's Latin Phrase-Book

oblivioni esse, dari

to be forgotten, pass into oblivion.

animum vitiis dedere

to abandon oneself to vice.

efficere duas legiones

to form two legions.

occasio datur, offertur

a favourable opportunity presents itself.

equitatus tutum receptum dat

the cavalry covers the retreat.

se (totum) libidinibus dedere

to abandon oneself (entirely) to debauchery.

desidiae et languori se dedere

to abandon oneself to inactivity and apathy.

se suaque omnia dedere victori

to give up one's person and all one's possessions to the conqueror.

Origins

From Proto-Italic *didō, from Proto-Indo-European *dédeh₃ti, from the root *deh₃- (“give”). The reduplication was lost in Latin in the present tense, but is preserved in the perfect tense and in other Italic languages. A root aorist (from Proto-Indo-European *déh₃t) is preserved in Venetic 𐌆𐌏𐌕𐌏 (doto); the other Italic perfect forms reflect a reduplicated stative, *dedai. However, the root aorist possibly served as the source of the Latin present forms. The form duim may reflect earlier Proto-Italic *dū-ī-, from the optative of an older Proto-Indo-European aorist *déwh₃-t. The stem of this aorist perhaps derives the metathesis of *dh₃u-, itself perhaps derives from the root *deh₃- with a u-extension. Sihler, however, dismisses the proposed root extension as "ad hoc" and arguing that the proposed cognates, δοϝέναι (dowénai) and दावने (dāváne), have more plausible explanations within their own branches, thus leaving the Italic forms isolated. Another theory, advanced by the linguist Jay H. Jasanoff, suggests that the form derives from Proto-Italic *dōwīm, itself from Proto-Indo-European *déh₃-ih₁-m̥, with a glide inserted to break the hiatus. The term escaped the effects of Thurneysen-Havet's Law due to the root accent. Cognates include Ancient Greek δίδωμι (dídōmi), Sanskrit ददाति (dádāti), Old Persian 𐎭𐎭𐎠𐎬𐎢𐎺 (d-d-a-tu-u-v). The derivatives of dō are not always easy to distinguish from those of -dō (“put”) < *dʰeh₁-.

Related words