Etymologically
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agitator

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Pronunciation

  • Classical: [a.ɡɪˈtaː.tɔr][1]
  • Ecclesiastical: [a.d͡ʒiˈtaː.tor][1]

Forms

agitātor m (genitive agitātōris); third declension[1]

Etymology

It is from Latin agitō (“to drive, put in motion”) + -tor, an agent noun.[2][3] agitō is formed from agō (“to drive”), which goes back to Proto-Indo-European *h2eǵ-e/o- (“to drive, lead”).[4]

Earliest recorded meaning

De Vaan and Köbler first find it in Plautus,[4][5] who in the Menaechmi uses it of a charioteer in the races of the circus.[6][3]

Semantic evolution

As a charioteer in the games it is used by Lucilius, Cicero, Seneca and Pliny the Younger, and in inscriptions.[6][7] Virgil uses it of the charioteer of Achilles, and in the Georgics of a peasant driving a slow ass;[2][7] Columella too has the driver of an ass.[6] Lewis & Short note that it was used only of those who drive animals.[8] The Vulgate uses it absolutely of charioteers.[6]

A medieval poet, Alexander Neckam, uses it of the river Spey as a mover of sand.[9] English formed its own agitator from the verb agitate in the 1640s, first for the representatives of the common soldiers in Cromwell's army.[10]

Timeline

  • c. 250–184 BC – Plautus uses it of a charioteer in the circus.[6][5]
  • 81–43 BC – Cicero uses it of a charioteer.[6][5]
  • 70–19 BC – Virgil uses it of a peasant driving an ass and of Achilles' charioteer.[2][5]
  • 390–406 AD – The Vulgate uses it of charioteers.[6][5]

Meanings

Noun

  1. A person who drives animals, a drover or driver.[2][8]
  2. A charioteer, especially in the races of the circus.[2][6][7]
  3. (Medieval Latin) A mover.[9]

References

  1. ^ a b c Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
  2. ^ a b c d e 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 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 c d e f g h Georges, Karl Ernst (1913–1918), Ausführliches lateinisch-deutsches Handwörterbuch, 8th ed., ed. Heinrich Georges, Hannover; Leipzig: Hahn
  7. ^ a b c Gaffiot, Félix (2016), Dictionnaire latin-français, new ed. by Gérard Gréco et al. (Gaffiot 2016), online ed.
  8. ^ a b Lewis, Charlton T.; Short, Charles (1879), A Latin Dictionary, Oxford: Clarendon Press
  9. ^ 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
  10. ^ Harper, Douglas. Online Etymology Dictionary, https://www.etymonline.com