entry
valedictorian
/ˌvælɪdɪkˈtɔːriən/graduating student delivering the farewell address
From Latin vale (farewell) + Latin dict (say or speak).
Word Ancestry
At graduation, the valedictorian is supposed to say farewell—but the word’s Latin machinery is almost comically literal: vale means “farewell,” while dīcō means “I say.” A Roman leaving a friend might effectively be told to “say farewell,” and that valedīcō eventually became valedictum, the source of English valedictory. English attached the people-making suffix -ian, producing the person associated with the farewell speech. The title emerged in American English in 1832, although the valedictory address itself had been a named English tradition since the eighteenth century. The surprising family resemblance continues: dīcō also sits behind diction, dictate, verdict, benediction, and contradiction—so a valedictorian is, etymologically, a farewell-speaker in the same extended family as someone who gives a verdict.
The Story
At graduation, the valedictorian is supposed to say farewell—but the word’s Latin machinery is almost comically literal: vale means “farewell,” while dīcō means “I say.” A Roman leaving a friend might effectively be told to “say farewell,” and that valedīcō eventually became valedictum, the source of English valedictory. English attached the people-making suffix -ian, producing the person associated with the farewell speech. The title emerged in American English in 1832, although the valedictory address itself had been a named English tradition since the eighteenth century. The surprising family resemblance continues: dīcō also sits behind diction, dictate, verdict, benediction, and contradiction—so a valedictorian is, etymologically, a farewell-speaker in the same extended family as someone who gives a verdict.
Kin & Kindred
From 'vale'·farewell; be well
Derived Terms
English words from this root
From 'dict'·say or speak
Derived Terms
English words from this root
From '-ian'·person associated with a place, role, or category
Derived Terms
English words from this root
Sources
Etymonline
Free Dictionary
Urban Dictionary
Wikipedia