Etymologically
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aestimator

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Pronunciation

  • Classical: [ae̯s.tɪˈmaː.tɔr][1]
  • Ecclesiastical: [es.tiˈmaː.tor][1]

Forms

aestimātor m (genitive aestimātōris); third declension[1]

Etymology

It is from Latin aestimō (“to value”) + -tor.[2][3][4] De Vaan doubts the old explanation of aestimō from aes (“bronze”) and a word for cutting, and thinks it more likely connected with Proto-Indo-European *h₂eis- (“to seek”), seen in aeruscō (“to beg”).[5]

Earliest recorded meaning

The TLL finds it first in Cicero,[3] who calls Piso the sole owner, valuer and seller of all the grain.[2]

Semantic evolution

It is a valuer or appraiser of goods, as Cicero says of shrewd valuers who prize meadows and building plots highly.[6][2] It is also one who judges qualities, as Livy has of a man too careless in judging good faith,[2] and one who esteems something, as Curtius' man who thinks far too highly of himself.[2] Stelten gives “one who esteems or evaluates”, and Niermeyer an appraiser.[7][8] English estimator comes from it in the 1660s.[9]

Timeline

  • 81–43 BC – Cicero, of a valuer of grain.[2][3][4]
  • 59 BC–17 AD – Livy, of a judge of good faith.[2][4]
  • 1st century AD – Curtius, of a man who overrates himself.[2][4]
  • 1660s – estimator appears in English.[9]

Meanings

Noun

  1. A valuer, appraiser.[2][6][1][8]
  2. One who judges or appraises qualities, an estimator; one who esteems.[2][6][7]

References

  1. ^ a b c d Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
  2. ^ a b c d e f g h i j 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. ^ a b c d Köbler, Gerhard (2010), Lateinisches Abkunfts- und Wirkungswörterbuch für Altertum und Mittelalter, online ed., koeblergerhard.de
  5. ^ de Vaan, Michiel (2008), Etymological Dictionary of Latin and the other Italic Languages, Leiden Indo-European Etymological Dictionary Series 7, Leiden; Boston: Brill
  6. ^ a b c 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
  9. ^ a b Harper, Douglas. Online Etymology Dictionary, https://www.etymonline.com