moderador

Forms

moderador (feminine moderadora, masculine plural moderadores, feminine plural moderadoras)^[1]

Etymology

The DLE gives it as borrowed from Latin moderātor (“one who guides, governs or directs”), while Corominas lists it among the derivatives of moderar (1444).^[2][3] The Latin noun is formed from moderor (“to guide, control”) with the suffix -tor.^[4][1] The same word is Italian moderatore, French modérateur and Catalan moderador.^[5]

The Latin verb belongs to the root of modus (“measure, manner”), built on a neuter s-stem from Proto-Indo-European *med- (“to measure”).^[1][4]

Earliest recorded meaning

Boyd-Bowman's first record from the Americas is of 1545, in Mexico City, where a bishop is called verdadero árbitro y moderador en su obispado “true arbiter and moderator in his diocese”.^[6]

Semantic evolution

Autoridades defines moderador as one who arranges, tempers and governs things according to right reason, and quotes Pellicer on seven princes called Moderadores de los consejos de la Reina.^[7] Terreros (1786–1793) has it as one who sets limits to an action or governs it.^[8] The Academy's 1843 edition gives the general “one who moderates”, and the 1899 edition makes it an adjective as well, with the etymology from Latin.^[9][10] The modern senses are those of the person who chairs a debate or round table, the president of an assembly in Protestant churches, and in physics the substance that slows the neutrons in a nuclear reactor.^[2][11] The poder moderador is the power exercised by the head of state, king or president.^[12]

Timeline

• 1444 – first record of the verb moderar.^[3]
• 1545 – first record in the Americas, in Mexico City.^[6]
• 1726–1739 – Autoridades defines it with a quotation from Pellicer.^[7]
• 1843 – the Academy's dictionary gives it as a noun, “one who moderates”.^[9]
• 1899 – the Academy adds the etymology from Latin moderator.^[10]

Meanings

Adjective

1. That moderates; also used as a noun.^[2][1]

Noun

1. A person who chairs and directs a debate, meeting or round table, a moderator.^[2][11]
2. In Protestant churches, the president of a meeting or assembly.^[2]
3. (physics) In a nuclear reactor, a substance that slows the neutrons without absorbing them.^[2][11]

Related words

• moderar
• moderación
• modo
• Latin moderātor

References

1. ^ a b c d e Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
2. ^ a b c d e f Real Academia Española; Asociación de Academias de la Lengua Española (2014–), Diccionario de la lengua española, 23rd ed., online version 23.8, https://dle.rae.es, p. s.v. moderador
3. ^ a b Corominas, Joan (1973), Breve diccionario etimológico de la lengua castellana, 3rd ed., Madrid: Gredos, p. s.v. moderar
4. ^ a b Glare, P. G. W., ed. (2012), Oxford Latin Dictionary, 2nd ed., Oxford: Oxford University Press
5. ^ Echegaray, Eduardo de (1887–1889), Diccionario general etimológico de la lengua española, 5 vols., Madrid: José María Faquineto, p. 381
6. ^ a b Boyd-Bowman, Peter (2003), Léxico hispanoamericano 1493–1993, ed. Ray Harris-Northall and John J. Nitti, New York: Hispanic Seminary of Medieval Studies, p. s.v. moderador
7. ^ a b Real Academia Española (1726–1739), Diccionario de la lengua castellana (Diccionario de Autoridades), 6 vols., Madrid: Francisco del Hierro, p. 4, 583
8. ^ Terreros y Pando, Esteban de (1786–1793), Diccionario castellano con las voces de ciencias y artes y sus correspondientes de las tres lenguas francesa, latina e italiana, 4 vols., Madrid: Viuda de Ibarra, p. 2, 599
9. ^ a b Real Academia Española (1843), Diccionario de la lengua castellana, 9th ed., Madrid: Imprenta de D. Francisco María Fernández, p. 480
10. ^ a b Real Academia Española (1899), Diccionario de la lengua castellana, 13th ed., Madrid: Imprenta de los Sres. Hernando y Compañía, p. 666
11. ^ a b c Moliner, María (2007), Diccionario de uso del español, 3rd ed., Madrid: Gredos, p. s.v. moderador
12. ^ Segura Munguía, Santiago (2014), Lexicón etimológico y semántico del latín y de las voces actuales que proceden de raíces latinas o griegas, Bilbao: Universidad de Deusto, p. 446