predatore

Forms

predatore m (plural predatori, feminine predatrice)^[1]

Etymology

It is learned: it is borrowed from Latin praedātor (“plunderer”),^[2][3][4][5] the agent noun of praedor (“to plunder”), from praeda (“booty, prey”).^[3][6][1] Wiktionary notes that it can also be analysed as from Italian predare + -tore.^[1]

praeda goes back to a form meaning “what is taken beforehand”, Proto-Italic *praiɣodā in Wiktionary's reconstruction, with the root of Latin prehendō (“to seize”);^[3][7][1] Wiktionary traces it to Proto-Indo-European *gʰed- (“to take”).^[3][7][1] Other Romance outcomes of the noun are Romanian prădător and Old Occitan prezador.^[8][9]

Earliest recorded meaning

Zingarelli dates the word to 1268;^[2][7][3][4] DELI, Nocentini and GRADIT give about 1300, in the Italian version of Albertano, in the sense “robber, plunderer”.^[2][7][3][4] Tommaseo quotes the passage: Colui che preda, è detto predatore (“he who plunders is called a plunderer”).^[10]

Semantic evolution

The sense of an animal that lives by hunting others appears in the 14th century, in the Italian Cassian.^[7] The adjective “plundering” is literary: Tasso's predatrice masnada and Ariosto's ugna predatrice (the plundering claws of the Harpies), while DELI's first record of it is in the Milanese press of 1829.^[4][11][7]

In poetry the noun could mean a lucky hunter, as in Poliziano.^[5] Today it is above all the zoologists' word for an animal that feeds on other species, and figuratively a ruthless grabber, as in i predatori degli affari.^[5][12][11]

Timeline

• 1268 – First record, according to Zingarelli.^[2]
• About 1300 – Predatore “plunderer” in the Italian Albertano.^[7][3]
• 14th century – The sense “predatory animal” in the Italian Cassian.^[7]
• 1829 – The adjective “that preys” in the Milanese press.^[7]

Meanings

Noun

1. (zoology) A predator, an animal that hunts and kills other animals for food.^[12][4][13]
2. A plunderer, raider or pirate; a predone.^[4][5][2]
3. (figurative) Someone who grabs what he can without scruple.^[5][12][2]
4. (literary) A successful hunter.^[5]

Adjective

1. That preys or plunders.^[4][2][5]
2. (zoology) Of an animal, living on other animals that it hunts: Il falco è un uccello predatore.^[4][2][14]

Word family

• superpredatore

Related words

• predare
• preda
• predone
• predatorio
• Latin praedātor

Usage notes

The feminine is predatrice.^[1][5]

References

1. ^ a b c d e f g Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
2. ^ a b c d e f g h Zingarelli, Nicola (2009), Lo Zingarelli 2010: vocabolario della lingua italiana, Bologna: Zanichelli
3. ^ a b c d e f g Nocentini, Alberto; Parenti, Alessandro (2010), l'Etimologico: vocabolario della lingua italiana, Firenze: Le Monnier
4. ^ a b c d e f g h De Mauro, Tullio (ed.) (2003), Grande dizionario italiano dell'uso, CD-ROM version 2.0, Torino: UTET
5. ^ a b c d e f g h Devoto, Giacomo; Oli, Gian Carlo; Serianni, Luca; Trifone, Maurizio (2026), Nuovo Devoto–Oli: il vocabolario dell'italiano contemporaneo, digital ed., Milano: Le Monnier
6. ^ Glare, P. G. W., ed. (2012), Oxford Latin Dictionary, 2nd ed., Oxford: Oxford University Press
7. ^ a b c d e f g h i Cortelazzo, Manlio; Zolli, Paolo (1999), Dizionario etimologico della lingua italiana, 2nd ed. by Manlio Cortelazzo and Michele A. Cortelazzo, Bologna: Zanichelli
8. ^ Meyer-Lübke, Wilhelm (1935), Romanisches etymologisches Wörterbuch, 3rd ed., Heidelberg: Winter
9. ^ Körting, Gustav (1907), Lateinisch-romanisches Wörterbuch: etymologisches Wörterbuch der romanischen Hauptsprachen, 3rd ed., Paderborn: Schöningh
10. ^ Tommaseo, Niccolò; Bellini, Bernardo (1861–1879), Dizionario della lingua italiana, 4 vols., Torino: UTET
11. ^ a b Duro, Aldo (ed.) (1986–1994), Vocabolario della lingua italiana, Roma: Istituto della Enciclopedia Italiana; online ed. treccani.it/vocabolario (2008 copy)
12. ^ a b c Sabatini, Francesco; Coletti, Vittorio; Manfredini, Manuela (2026), Dizionario italiano Sabatini Coletti, digital ed., Milano: Sansoni / Rizzoli Larousse
13. ^ Vocabolario della lingua italiana Treccani (2011), Roma: Istituto della Enciclopedia Italiana
14. ^ Gabrielli, Aldo (2020), Grande dizionario italiano, digital ed., Milano: Hoepli