animator

Forms

animātor m (genitive animātōris); third declension^[1][2]

Etymology

It is from Latin animō + -tor, the agent noun of the verb meaning “to give life to”.^[3][2][1] The verb is derived from anima (“breath, soul”) or animus (“mind, spirit”), which de Vaan traces to Proto-Italic *anamo- (“breath, spirit”) and Proto-Indo-European *h₂enh₁-mo- (“breath”).^[4]

Earliest recorded meaning

Tertullian is the first to use it, of the spirit that gives life: in his treatise against Hermogenes the spirit is the former, inspirer and quickener of the universe, and in the Apology it is the giver of life to all souls.^[5][1][6]

Semantic evolution

It is a post-classical word, most often found in the Church Fathers, of God or the spirit as giver of life.^[1][5] Prudentius calls God the animator and maker of the martyr.^[5][6] Martianus Capella applies it to the artist who seems to breathe life into faces of bronze or marble.^[5][3][2]

In Medieval Latin it meant a giver of life: Godescalc the Saxon addresses God as creator, restorer and animator.^[7]

Timeline

• c. 160–220 AD – Tertullian uses it of the spirit that gives life to the universe and to souls.^[5][8]
• 348/49–c. 413 AD – Prudentius calls God the animator of the martyr.^[5][8]
• 5th century AD – Martianus Capella uses it of an artist who brings bronze and marble to life.^[5][8]
• 2nd third of the 9th century – Godescalc the Saxon calls God animator in a poem.^[7][8]

Meanings

Noun

1. One who gives life, a quickener, especially God or the spirit as giver of life.^[1][5][2]
2. An artist who makes images seem alive.^[5][3]

Usage notes

Du Cange has a separate ⟨animator⟩ meaning a tenant or serf, from a charter of a Bohemian duke of 993.^[9]

References

1. ^ a b c d e Lewis, Charlton T.; Short, Charles (1879), A Latin Dictionary, Oxford: Clarendon Press
2. ^ a b c d Gaffiot, Félix (2016), Dictionnaire latin-français, new ed. by Gérard Gréco et al. (Gaffiot 2016), online ed.
3. ^ a b c Georges, Karl Ernst (1913–1918), Ausführliches lateinisch-deutsches Handwörterbuch, 8th ed., ed. Heinrich Georges, Hannover; Leipzig: Hahn
4. ^ 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 f g h i Thesaurus linguae Latinae (1900–), Leipzig: Teubner; Berlin: De Gruyter; open-access ed., Munich: Bayerische Akademie der Wissenschaften
6. ^ a b Conte, Gian Biagio; Pianezzola, Emilio; Ranucci, Giuliano (2010), il Latino: Vocabolario della lingua latina, 3rd ed., Florence: Le Monnier
7. ^ a b Mittellateinisches Wörterbuch bis zum ausgehenden 13. Jahrhundert (1967–), Munich: C. H. Beck; Bayerische Akademie der Wissenschaften
8. ^ a b c d Köbler, Gerhard (2010), Lateinisches Abkunfts- und Wirkungswörterbuch für Altertum und Mittelalter, online ed., koeblergerhard.de
9. ^ du Cange, Charles du Fresne, et al. (1883–1887), Glossarium mediae et infimae latinitatis, augmented ed. by Léopold Favre, Niort: L. Favre