adiutor

Forms

adiūtor m (genitive adiūtōris); third declension^[1] Inscriptions spell it ativtori, aivtori and azvtoribvs.^[2][3] Medieval texts spell it adjūtor.^[1]

Etymology

It is formed from adiuvō (“to help”) with the agent suffix -tor.^[2][3][1] De Vaan derives ⟨iuvō⟩ from Proto-Italic *ijow- and the present Proto-Indo-European *h₁i-h₁euH- (“to help”), cognate with Sanskrit अवति (ávati, “helps”) and Old Irish con·oí (“protects”).^[4]

Earliest recorded meaning

Plautus is its first author in the OLD, who has “are you now helping your son in his love affair?” in the Asinaria;^[2][5] Köbler gives Cicero.^[2][5]

Semantic evolution

It is a helper, supporter or accomplice, as Terence's “my helper, adviser and guide”, and an assistant in an official capacity, as Caesar's deputy sent to support a commander.^[2][6] Inscriptions use it in the titles of officials, and it is an assistant in a trade, an assistant master in a school, or a supporting actor;^[2] Cato counts the cost of a job “besides the assistants”.^[2]

The TLL records Adiūtor as a common slave name and cognomen, especially in Cisalpine Gaul, Illyricum and Africa.^[3] Church Latin glosses it “helper, assistant, coadjutor”, and in medieval Latin it is an assistant bishop.^[7][8]

Timeline

• c. 250–184 BC – Plautus of a helper.^[2][5]
• 234–149 BC – Cato of assistants on a job.^[2][5]
• c. 50 BC – Caesar of an official deputy.^[2][5]

Meanings

Noun

1. A helper, supporter; an accomplice.^[2][6][1]
2. An official assistant, deputy; a title of various officials.^[2][1]
3. An assistant in a trade; an assistant master; a supporting actor.^[2]
4. (Medieval Latin) An assistant bishop, coadjutor.^[8][7]

Word family

• coadiūtor

Related words

• adiuvō
• iuvō
• adiūtrīx
• auxilium

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 i j k l m Glare, P. G. W., ed. (2012), Oxford Latin Dictionary, 2nd ed., Oxford: Oxford University Press
3. ^ a b c Thesaurus linguae Latinae (1900–), Leipzig: Teubner; Berlin: De Gruyter; open-access ed., Munich: Bayerische Akademie der Wissenschaften
4. ^ de Vaan, Michiel (2008), Etymological Dictionary of Latin and the other Italic Languages, Leiden Indo-European Etymological Dictionary Series 7, Leiden; Boston: Brill
5. ^ a b c d e Köbler, Gerhard (2010), Lateinisches Abkunfts- und Wirkungswörterbuch für Altertum und Mittelalter, online ed., koeblergerhard.de
6. ^ a b Lewis, Charlton T.; Short, Charles (1879), A Latin Dictionary, Oxford: Clarendon Press
7. ^ a b Stelten, Leo F. (1995), Dictionary of Ecclesiastical Latin, Peabody, Mass.: Hendrickson
8. ^ a b Niermeyer, J. F. (1976), Mediae Latinitatis Lexicon Minus, Leiden: Brill