aequator

Forms

aequātor m (genitive aequātōris); third declension^[1]

Etymology

It is formed from Latin aequō + -tor, “one who makes equal”.^[2][3] The astronomical sense comes from a phrase meaning “equalizer of day and night”: when the sun is on the celestial equator, day and night are of equal length.^[4]

Earliest recorded meaning

The only ancient example is an inscription from Lyon, which names a slave of the emperor Tiberius as aequator monetae, an assayer of the coinage.^[3][2][5]

Semantic evolution

Medieval writers used it in astronomy for the celestial equator, the circle equally distant from both poles.^[6][7] Albertus Magnus has it in his commentary on the Physics,^[6] and Conte names it as the medieval Latin source of Italian equatore.^[8] The general sense of “one who makes equal” also lived on in medieval verse and in Vives.^[6][9]

English borrowed it in the late 14th century; the celestial equator is its earliest sense there, and the terrestrial line came later.^[4]

Timeline

• 13th century – Albertus Magnus uses it for the celestial equator.^[6][10]
• late 14th century – Borrowed into English as equator.^[4]
• 1538 – Vives calls love an equalizer, aequator.^[9]

Meanings

Noun

1. One who makes things equal; in aequātor monētae, an assayer of coin.^[2][5][11]
2. (Medieval Latin, astronomy) The celestial equator.^[6][7][1]
3. (Medieval Latin) An equalizer.^[6][1]

Related words

• English equator

References

1. ^ a b c d e 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 Thesaurus linguae Latinae (1900–), Leipzig: Teubner; Berlin: De Gruyter; open-access ed., Munich: Bayerische Akademie der Wissenschaften
4. ^ a b c Harper, Douglas. Online Etymology Dictionary, https://www.etymonline.com
5. ^ a b Georges, Karl Ernst (1913–1918), Ausführliches lateinisch-deutsches Handwörterbuch, 8th ed., ed. Heinrich Georges, Hannover; Leipzig: Hahn
6. ^ a b c d e f Mittellateinisches Wörterbuch bis zum ausgehenden 13. Jahrhundert (1967–), Munich: C. H. Beck; Bayerische Akademie der Wissenschaften
7. ^ a b 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
8. ^ Conte, Gian Biagio; Pianezzola, Emilio; Ranucci, Giuliano (2010), il Latino: Vocabolario della lingua latina, 3rd ed., Florence: Le Monnier
9. ^ a b Ramminger, Johann, Neulateinische Wortliste: Ein Wörterbuch des Lateinischen von Petrarca bis 1700, www.neulatein.de
10. ^ Köbler, Gerhard (2010), Lateinisches Abkunfts- und Wirkungswörterbuch für Altertum und Mittelalter, online ed., koeblergerhard.de
11. ^ Gaffiot, Félix (2016), Dictionnaire latin-français, new ed. by Gérard Gréco et al. (Gaffiot 2016), online ed.