Etymologically
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administrator

This is the current revision of this entry, as edited by bogdan on 16 October 2026 at 18:43. This address is a permanent link to this version.
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Pronunciation

  • IPA (Classical): [ad.mɪ.nɪsˈtraː.tɔr][1]
  • IPA (Ecclesiastical): [ad.mi.nisˈtraː.tor][1]

Forms

administrātor m (genitive administrātōris); third declension[1]

Etymology

It is from administrō “to manage, direct” with the agent suffix -tor; ⟨administrō⟩ is from ad- and ministrō “to serve, manage”, from minister “servant”.[2][1][3]

Earliest recorded meaning

Gaffiot and Köbler cite Cicero's De oratore, bellī gerendī administrātor “one in charge of conducting a war”.[4][5] Köbler dates Cicero 81–43 BC.[5]

Semantic evolution

It was a person in charge of an operation, a director, manager, as in Cicero, and Lewis & Short explain it as one who is at hand to help.[2][6][4]

Medieval Latin used it for a public officer.[7] In Ecclesiastical Latin it was one who administers, especially a person appointed to administer a vacant parish or diocese.[8] English administrator (mid-15th century, “one given authority to manage”) came through Old French or directly from Latin.[3]

Timeline

  • 81–43 BC – Cicero uses it.[4][5]
  • mid-15th century – English administrator is recorded.[3]

Meanings

Noun

  1. A director, manager, one in charge.[2]
  2. (Medieval Latin) A public officer; an administrator of a vacant see or parish.[7][8]

References

  1. ^ a b c d Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
  2. ^ a b c Glare, P. G. W., ed. (2012), Oxford Latin Dictionary, 2nd ed., Oxford: Oxford University Press
  3. ^ a b c Harper, Douglas. Online Etymology Dictionary, https://www.etymonline.com
  4. ^ a b c Gaffiot, Félix (2016), Dictionnaire latin-français, new ed. by Gérard Gréco et al. (Gaffiot 2016), online ed.
  5. ^ a b c Köbler, Gerhard (2010), Lateinisches Abkunfts- und Wirkungswörterbuch für Altertum und Mittelalter, online ed., koeblergerhard.de
  6. ^ Lewis, Charlton T.; Short, Charles (1879), A Latin Dictionary, Oxford: Clarendon Press
  7. ^ a b Niermeyer, J. F. (1976), Mediae Latinitatis Lexicon Minus, Leiden: Brill
  8. ^ a b Stelten, Leo F. (1995), Dictionary of Ecclesiastical Latin, Peabody, Mass.: Hendrickson