What does dittay mean?
Dittay is a term from Scots law denoting a written statement or indictment of the charges brought against an accused person. In historical Scottish criminal procedure, the dittay set out the articles of accusation, which were read to the panel — the accused — so that they knew precisely what they were required to answer. The word is closely tied to the old form of Scots pleading known as libelling a charge, and it appears frequently in court records and legal documents from earlier centuries. Although it looks like the familiar word 'ditty', meaning a short song, the two are unrelated in sense: a dittay was a solemn legal instrument, not entertainment. Today dittay is largely confined to discussions of Scottish legal history and archaic court records, making it a useful word for readers of historical texts but one rarely encountered in modern speech.
nounIn Scots law, a written statement or indictment setting out the charges against an accused person. Historically it also denoted the formal document listing the articles of accusation read to a panel at trial.
- A written indictment or statement of charges against an accused person in Scots law.
- The act or document of libelling or accusing someone formally (historical/extended use).
"The clerk read aloud each article of the dittay before the accused was asked to plead."
"The procurator fiscal prepared the dittay listing the charges for the forthcoming trial."
"In older Scottish practice, the dittay was read to the panel so he knew exactly what he had to answer."
Standard plural formed by adding -s.
"The archive contains numerous dittays from seventeenth-century Scottish courts."
Despite looking like 'ditty', a dittay was no song — it was the grim written list of charges read out against the accused in a Scottish courtroom.
Reviewed by Deb Chak, Editor. AI-assisted content curated by RJS Tech Solutions LLP.
Etymology of dittay
Dittay comes from Old French 'dite', a statement or saying, ultimately from Latin 'dictare', to declare or dictate, the frequentative of 'dicere', to say. It entered Scots in the medieval period as the term for the written declaration of a charge. It is thus a cousin of English words such as dictate, dictum, edict, and indite, all tracing back to the same Latin root.
How dittay is actually used
Dittay is now chiefly of historical interest, belonging to the vocabulary of Scots law and older legal records; it is not part of everyday English outside Scotland.
Easily confused with dittay
A ditty is a short simple song; a dittay is a legal indictment in Scots law — entirely different words that happen to share a spelling variant.