Dictionary formdoceo, docere, docui, doctum
Translation
to teach, instruct; to show
Test yourself on doceo
Three quick questions. No account needed.
Know this word? Create a free account to track it.
Examples
.
The teacher teaches the boys their letters.
.
My father taught me to pray.
, .
Many teach, few know.
.
History teaches us.
.
Learned men were teaching in the church.
Doceo, docere, docui, doctum is second conjugation, and its defining feature is that it takes two accusatives: one for the person taught, one for the subject taught. Magister pueros grammaticam docet. Turn it passive and the person becomes the subject while the subject taught stays accusative: pueri grammaticam docentur, which looks impossible until you have seen it a few times.
The trap is doctus. The perfect participle hardened into an adjective meaning "learned, expert" centuries before the classical period, so doctus vir is a scholar, not "a man who has been taught". Doceo shares a root with disco, "to learn", and with decet; the English descendants are doctor, doctrine, document, docile and docent, all with the same double-edged idea of showing and being shown.
Where this fits
Add to review queue
Track this word in your spaced-repetition queue and be tested on it at the right interval.
Meet this word in a story
Every course has graded stories written only with words you have been taught, plus grammar drills, a games arcade and printable worksheets. Chapters 1 and 2 are free.
Chapters 1 and 2 free, forever. Plus: 7 days free, then $5 a month for all eleven languages.
Latin · Free printables
doceo: worksheet, infographic and listicle
Free printable study downloads for the Latin word "doceo" (to teach, instruct; to show): a worksheet with the answer key built in, an infographic, and a sentence listicle. Open any one to view, print or save.
Free for members
The printable worksheets, infographics and PDFs are free with an account. Start a free week and download as many as you like.
Start your free weekThis word is taught in chapter 6, lesson 6: doceo, laetus, vallis and 7 more words.