Dispatch Definition

Origin of Dispatch

• The etymology of the word is uncertain. It is connected to the French dépêcher and dépêche which are in meaning equivalents to this word. The French words are made up of the prefix dés- (Lat. dis-) and the root of empêcher (Lat. impedicare, composed from prefix in- and pedica) translated as 'to refrain', 'to stop'. The French word came into English as "depeach", which was in use from the 15th century until "despatch" was introduced. This word is direct from the Italian dispacciare, or Spanish despachar, which must be derived from the Lat. root appearing in pactus (the perfect passive infinitive of the verb pangere) meaning fixed, fastened. The New English Dictionary finds the earliest instance of dispatch letter to Henry VIII. from Bishop Tunstall, commissioner to Spain in 1516–1517.

  From Wiktionary

• Spanish despachar or Italian dispacciare both probably ultimately from Old Provençal empachar to impede from Vulgar Latin impāctāre frequentative of Latin impingere to dash against impinge

  From American Heritage Dictionary of the English Language, 5th Edition