Etymologically
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administrator

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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

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