soi-disant (adj.)

in reference to persons, "calling-oneself, self-named, so-called, would-be," 1752 (in Chesterfield), a French word in English, from reflexive pronoun soi "oneself" (from Latin se, see se-) + disant, present participle of dire "to say," from Latin dicere "speak, tell, say" (from PIE root *deik- "to show," also "pronounce solemnly"). Sometimes also in reference to things (1845).

also from 1752

Entries linking to soi-disant

*deik-

Proto-Indo-European root meaning "to show," also "pronounce solemnly," "also in derivatives referring to the directing of words or objects" [Watkins].

It forms all or part of: abdicate; abdication; addict; adjudge; apodictic; avenge; benediction; betoken; condition; contradict; contradiction; dedicate; deictic; deixis; dictate; diction; dictionary; dictum; digit; disk; ditto; ditty; edict; Eurydice; index; indicate; indication; indict; indiction; indictive; indite; interdict; judge; judicial; juridical; jurisdiction; malediction; malison; paradigm; policy (n.2) "written insurance agreement;" preach; predicament; predicate; predict; prejudice; revenge; soi-disant; syndic; teach; tetchy; theodicy; toe; token; valediction; vendetta; verdict; veridical; vindicate; vindication; voir dire.

It is the hypothetical source of/evidence for its existence is provided by: Sanskrit dic- "point out, show;" Greek deiknynai "to show, to prove," dikē "custom, usage;" Latin dicere "speak, tell, say," digitus "finger," Old High German zeigon, German zeigen "to show," Old English teon "to accuse," tæcan "to teach."

se-

word-forming element in words of Latin origin, "apart, away," from Latin se-, collateral form of sed- "without, apart, aside," probably originally "by one's self, on one's own," and related to sed, Latin reflexive pronoun (accusative and ablative), from PIE *sed-, extended form of root *s(w)e-, pronoun of the third person and reflexive (source also of German sich; see idiom).

Trends of soi-disant

adapted from books.google.com/ngrams/. Ngrams are probably unreliable.

More to Explore

soap

zeep, Old High German seiffa, German seife "soap," Old High German seifar "foam," Old English sipian "to drip"), from PIE *soi-bon...

dire

"causing or attended by great fear, dreadful, awful," 1560s, from Latin dirus "fearful, awful, boding ill," a religious term, which is of unknown origin. Apparently a dialect word in Latin; perhaps from Oscan and Umbrian and perhaps cognate with Greek deinos "terrible," Sanskrit

inimical

1640s, from Late Latin inimicalis "hostile," from Latin inimicus "unfriendly; an enemy" (see enemy). Inimical expresses both feeling and action, generally in private affairs. Hostile also expresses both feeling and action, but applies especially to public affairs: where it appli

style

early 14c., stile, "writing instrument, pen, stylus; piece of written discourse, a narrative, treatise;" also "characteristic rhetorical mode of an author, manner or mode of expression," and "way of life, manner, behavior, conduct." This is from Old French stile, estile "style, f

communion

late 14c., communioun, "participation in something; that which is common to all; union in religious worship, doctrine, or discipline," from Old French comunion "community, communion" (12c.), from Latin communionem (nominative communio) "fellowship, mutual participation, a sharing

tender

"soft, easily injured," early 13c., from Old French tendre "soft, delicate; young" (11c.), from Latin tenerem (nominative tener) "soft, delicate; of tender age, youthful," from a derivative of PIE root *ten- "to stretch," on the notion of "stretched," hence "thin," hence "weak" o

duplicity

"deceptiveness, character or practice of speaking differently of the same thing or acting differently at different times or to different persons," early 15c., from Old French duplicite (13c.), from Late Latin duplicitatem (nominative duplicitas) "doubleness," in Medieval Latin "a

respect

late 14c., "relationship, relation; regard, consideration" (as in in respect to), from Old French respect and directly from Latin respectus "regard, a looking at," literally "act of looking back (or often) at one," noun use of past participle of respicere "look back at, regard, c

mimosa

genus of leguminous shrubs, 1731, coined in Modern Latin (1619) from Latin mimus "mime" (see mime (n.)) + -osa, adjectival suffix (fem. of -osus). So called because some species (including the common Sensitive Plant) fold leaves when touched, seeming to mimic animal behavior. As

scarf

[band of silk, strip of cloth], 1550s, "a band worn across the body or over the shoulders," probably from Old North French escarpe "sash, sling," which probably is identical with Old French escherpe "pilgrim's purse suspended from the neck," perhaps from Frankish *skirpja or some

Share soi-disant

‘cite’

Page URL:

https://www.etymonline.com/word/soi-disant

HTML Link:

<a href="https://www.etymonline.com/word/soi-disant">Etymology of soi-disant by etymonline</a>

APA style:

Harper, D. (n.d.). Etymology of soi-disant. Online Etymology Dictionary. Retrieved $(datetime), from https://www.etymonline.com/word/soi-disant

Chicago style:

Harper Douglas, “Etymology of soi-disant,” Online Etymology Dictionary, accessed $(datetime), https://www.etymonline.com/word/soi-disant.

MLA style:

Harper, Douglas. “Etymology of soi-disant.” Online Etymology Dictionary, https://www.etymonline.com/word/soi-disant. Accessed $(datetimeMla).

IEEE style:

D. Harper. “Etymology of soi-disant.” Online Etymology Dictionary. https://www.etymonline.com/word/soi-disant (accessed $(datetime)).

updated on May 10, 2024

Remove ads >

Dictionary entries near soi-disant

software

softy

sog

soggy

Soho

soi-disant

soigne

soil

soiree

sojourn

sojourner