Inherited fromLatinīre. The forms beginning with /b/ derive from corresponding conjugations ofLatinvādere; those beginning with /f/ derive from forms ofLatinesse.
Balearic hasdeis and Valencian hasdis as the second-person plural present indicative form. This is similar toFrenchdire havingdites as the standard form instead of the expecteddisez, and contemporaryItaliandire havingdite as the standard form in place of the expecteddicete.
FromOld High Germanir. Thed- is through unetymological segmentation of the ending-t of a preceding verb (*stitt ir →*stiddir →stitt dir). This development was assisted by a parallelism with the 1st person, in which the dative singularmir is also the nominative plural (this latter development occurred for a similar reason, but was earlier and is widespread throughoutHigh German).
From a contraction ofLatindīcō, dīcere, fromProto-Italic*deikō, fromProto-Indo-European*deyḱ-(“to show, point out”). The origin of some forms starting withsch- likely result from regular elisions of unstressed syllables:dīcēbam →*dcéβa →scheva.
Thisetymology is missing or incomplete. Please add to it, or discuss it at theEtymology scriptorium. Particularly: “GPC suggests cognacy withLatindūrus but this has a disputed etymology of its own”
D. G. Lewis, N. Lewis, editors (2005–present), “dir”, inGweiadur: the Welsh–English Dictionary, Gwerin
R. J. Thomas, G. A. Bevan, P. J. Donovan, A. Hawke et al., editors (1950–present), “dir”, inGeiriadur Prifysgol Cymru Online (in Welsh), University of Wales Centre for Advanced Welsh & Celtic Studies