Etymologically
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admirator

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Forms

admīrātor m (genitive admīrātōris); third declension[1]

Etymology

It is from Latin admīror (“to admire”) + -tor.[2][1] ⟨admīror⟩ is from ad- and mīror (“to wonder at”).[1][3]

Earliest recorded meaning

Gaffiot's earliest source is Seneca the Elder, and Lewis & Short cite Phaedrus.[4][5] Köbler dates Seneca the Elder c. 55 BC–40 AD.[3]

Semantic evolution

It meant a person who admires or venerates, an admirer, as of the universe in Seneca, and Quintilian's antīquitātis nimius admīrātor “too great an admirer of antiquity”.[2][5][4]

British Medieval Latin used it for an admirer, devotee.[6] It survives as French admirateur, Italian ammiratore and Spanish and Portuguese admirador.[1]

Timeline

  • c. 55 BC–40 AD – Seneca the Elder uses it.[4][3]
  • c. 15 BC–c. 50 AD – Phaedrus uses it.[5][3]
  • 4 BC–65 AD – Seneca uses it.[5][3]

Meanings

Noun

  1. An admirer, one who venerates.[2]

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 d e Köbler, Gerhard (2010), Lateinisches Abkunfts- und Wirkungswörterbuch für Altertum und Mittelalter, online ed., koeblergerhard.de
  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 d Lewis, Charlton T.; Short, Charles (1879), A Latin Dictionary, Oxford: Clarendon Press
  6. ^ Latham, R. E., D. R. Howlett, R. K. Ashdowne, et al. (1975–2013), Dictionary of Medieval Latin from British Sources, London: British Academy / Oxford University Press