administrator

Pronunciation

• IPA: /ədˈmɪn.ɪ.stɹeɪ.tə/ (UK); /ədˈmɪn.ɪ.stɹeɪ.tɚ/ (US)^[1]

Etymology

It is late Middle English administratour, from Old French administrateur or directly borrowed from Latin administrātor (“a manager, conductor”),^[2][3] an agent noun from administrātus, past participle of administrāre, to manage, control (see administer).^[2][4]

Earliest recorded meaning

Etymonline dates the word to the mid-15th century and says the estate sense is the earliest;^[2] the OED's first quotation, for a person appointed to manage and dispose of the estate of someone who died without a will, is from 1514.^[5]

Semantic evolution

A manager of business or public affairs is from 1533 in the OED,^[5] one who performs the duties of religion or justice from 1563,^[5] and one who manages estates for the owner from 1599.^[5] A person with a talent for managing or organizing is from 1855,^[5] and in law an agent appointed by a court to run a company in difficulty from 1982.^[5] A person who manages a computer system is a recent sense.^[6]

Timeline

• mid-15th century – administratour.^[2]
• 1514 – an administrator of an estate.^[5]
• 1533 – a manager of affairs.^[5]
• 1855 – an able organizer.^[5]
• 1982 – a court-appointed administrator.^[5]

Modern meaning

Noun

1. A person who manages the affairs of a business, organization or public body; an executive.
2. (law) A person appointed to manage an estate, especially of someone who has died without a will.
3. A person who manages a computer system.

Word family

• administratorship
• subadministrator

Related words

• administer
• administration
• administrative
• minister
• executor

References

1. ^ Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
2. ^ a b c d Harper, Douglas. Online Etymology Dictionary, https://www.etymonline.com
3. ^ Shorter Oxford English Dictionary on Historical Principles (2002), 5th ed., ed. William R. Trumble and Angus Stevenson, Oxford: Oxford University Press
4. ^ Klein, Ernest. A Comprehensive Etymological Dictionary of the English Language. 2 vols. Amsterdam: Elsevier, 1966–1967.
5. ^ a b c d e f g h i j Simpson, J. A.; Weiner, E. S. C., eds. (1989), The Oxford English Dictionary, 2nd ed., Oxford: Clarendon Press
6. ^ Collins English Dictionary (2023), Glasgow: HarperCollins