legislator

Etymology

It is borrowed from Latin lēgislātor,^[2] usually written as the phrase lēgis lātor (“proposer of a law”).^{[3][4][5][6][7][8]} The first part is lēgis, the genitive of lēx (“law”),^[2][3][5][6] which is also the source of legal;^[3][4][2] the second is lātor (“proposer, mover; bearer”), the agent noun belonging to lātus (“carried, borne”),^[3][5][8][9] which served as the past participle of ferō (“to carry, bring”).^{[3][5][6][10]} The American Heritage Dictionary traces lātus to the root Proto-Indo-European *telə-, and Merriam-Webster and Skeat relate it to tolerate;^[5][6][11] Hoad and the Shorter Oxford connect it instead with tollō (“to raise”).^[7][12] Barnhart takes the word as probably borrowed through French législateur as well as directly from Latin.^[4][5] The OED compares Middle French legislateur, recorded in French from the late 14th century, Spanish legislador and Italian legislatore,^[2] and Johnson cited both the Latin word and a French legislatour.^[13]

Earliest recorded meaning

A person who makes laws for a people or nation: before 1513, in Irland's Meroure of Wyssdome.^[2] The OED's revised entry (2016) is much earlier than the other dictionaries: the Shorter Oxford and the Oxford Dictionary of English give the late 15th century,^[12][14] Merriam-Webster 1603,^[6] Etymonline about 1600^[3] and Barnhart 1605.^[4]

Semantic evolution

The word kept its core sense of a lawgiver, and came to mean also a member of a law-making body;^[2][15] in the United States it generally means a member of a state, territorial or colonial legislature.^[3] From 1612, in Shelton's translation of Don Quixote, it was extended to anyone or anything that lays down the principles of an activity.^[2] Johnson (1755) defined it as "a lawgiver; one who makes laws for any community".^[13] Feminine forms followed: legislatrix from the 1670s and legislatress from 1711.^[3] The verb legislate is a back-formation from legislator and legislation, from 1805.^[4][9]

Timeline

• before 1513 – a lawgiver, a maker of laws.^[2]
• 1612 – in extended use, one who lays down the rules for an activity.^[2]
• 1670s – legislatrix, a female legislator.^[3]
• 1805 – the back-formation legislate.^[4]

Meanings

Noun

1. A person who makes laws; a member of a legislature, such as a parliament or a state assembly: The bill was opposed by legislators from both parties.^[15][6][2]
2. A person or thing that lays down the principles of an activity.^[2]

Word family

• legislatorial
• legislatorship

Related words

• legislate
• legislation
• legislature
• legislative
• legal
• tolerate

References

1. ^ a b Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
2. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k Oxford English Dictionary Online (accessed March 2026), Oxford: Oxford University Press
3. ^ a b c d e f g h i Harper, Douglas. Online Etymology Dictionary, https://www.etymonline.com
4. ^ a b c d e f Barnhart, Robert K. (1988), The Barnhart Dictionary of Etymology
5. ^ a b c d e f The American Heritage Dictionary of the English Language (online 2024), 5th ed., Boston: Houghton Mifflin Harcourt
6. ^ a b c d e f Merriam-Webster Unabridged Dictionary (2024), online ed., Springfield, Mass.: Merriam-Webster
7. ^ a b Hoad, T. F., ed. (1986), The Concise Oxford Dictionary of English Etymology, Oxford: Clarendon Press
8. ^ a b Klein, Ernest. A Comprehensive Etymological Dictionary of the English Language. 2 vols. Amsterdam: Elsevier, 1966–1967.
9. ^ a b Weekley, Ernest (1921), An Etymological Dictionary of Modern English, London: John Murray
10. ^ Dictionary.com Unabridged (2016), based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, New York: Random House
11. ^ Skeat, Walter W. (1911), A Concise Etymological Dictionary of the English Language, new ed., Oxford: Clarendon Press
12. ^ a b Shorter Oxford English Dictionary on Historical Principles (2002), 5th ed., ed. William R. Trumble and Angus Stevenson, Oxford: Oxford University Press
13. ^ a b Johnson, Samuel (1755), A Dictionary of the English Language, London; 4th ed. 1773; Johnson's Dictionary Online, ed. Beth Rapp Young et al.
14. ^ Stevenson, Angus, ed. (2010), Oxford Dictionary of English, 3rd ed., Oxford: Oxford University Press
15. ^ a b Collins English Dictionary (2023), Glasgow: HarperCollins