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dilectus. In DICTIOUS you will not only get to know all the dictionary meanings for the word
dilectus, but we will also tell you about its etymology, its characteristics and you will know how to say
dilectus in singular and plural. Everything you need to know about the word
dilectus you have here. The definition of the word
dilectus will help you to be more precise and correct when speaking or writing your texts. Knowing the definition of
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Latin
Etymology 1
Perfect passive participle of dīligō (“I esteem, love, select”).
Participle
dīlēctus (feminine dīlēcta, neuter dīlēctum, superlative dīlēctissimus); first/second-declension participle
- having been esteemed, loved, beloved
405 CE,
Jerome,
Vulgate Proverbs.31.2:
- quid dīlēctē mī quid dīlēctē uterī meī quid dīlēctē vōtōrum meōrum
- What, O my beloved, what, O the beloved of my womb, what, O the beloved of my vows? (Douay-Rheims trans., Challoner rev.; 1752 CE)
Declension
First/second-declension adjective.
Descendants
Etymology 2
From dīligō (“I esteem, love, select”) + -tus (action noun suffix), literally “selection”.
Noun
dīlēctus m (genitive dīlēctūs); fourth declension
- selection, choice, distinction
- levy, draft, conscription
Multis de causis Caesar maiorem Galliae motum expectans per Marcum Silanum, Gaium Antistium Reginum, Titum Sextium legatos dilectum habere instituit- Caesar, expecting for many reasons a greater commotion in Gaul, resolves to hold a levy by the means of M. Silanus C. Antistius Reginus, and T. Sextius, his lieutenants.
(Caesar, De bello gallico, VI 1)
- enlistment
Declension
Fourth-declension noun.
References
- “dilectus”, in Charlton T. Lewis and Charles Short (1879) A Latin Dictionary, Oxford: Clarendon Press
- “dilectus”, in Charlton T. Lewis (1891) An Elementary Latin Dictionary, New York: Harper & Brothers
- dilectus in Gaffiot, Félix (1934) Dictionnaire illustré latin-français, Hachette.
- Carl Meißner, Henry William Auden (1894) Latin Phrase-Book, London: Macmillan and Co.
- (ambiguous) to hold a levy: dilectum habere
- “dilectus”, in Harry Thurston Peck, editor (1898), Harper's Dictionary of Classical Antiquities, New York: Harper & Brothers
- De Vaan, Michiel (2008) “lego, -ere”, in Etymological Dictionary of Latin and the other Italic Languages (Leiden Indo-European Etymological Dictionary Series; 7), Leiden, Boston: Brill, →ISBN, page 332