captator

Forms

captātor m (genitive captātōris, feminine captātrix); third declension^[1]

Etymology

It is from Latin captō (“to try to catch, strive for”) + -tor,^[2][3][1] and captō is formed on the past participle of capiō (“to take”).^[4] De Vaan derives capiō from Proto-Italic *kap-i- and either Proto-Indo-European *kh₂p-i- or a non-Indo-European root, “to seize”.^[4] Cognate with Ancient Greek κάπτω (káptō, “to gulp down”) and Ancient Greek κωπή (kōpḗ, “grip”).^[4]

Earliest recorded meaning

Köbler dates it from Horace,^[5] who uses it of a legacy hunter in the Satires: captātorque dabit rīsūs Nāsīca Corānō, “and Nasica the legacy hunter will give Coranus a laugh”.^[2][3]

Semantic evolution

In general it is a person who reaches for or courts something;^[2] Livy speaks of one who courts the popular breeze, captātor aurae populāris.^[6][7] Its special sense is the legacy hunter who courts a rich childless person in hope of an inheritance,^[2][6] a figure found in Seneca, Petronius and Juvenal;^[2][8] Juvenal even calls a market that serves to win favour a captātor macellum.^[2][8] Prudentius uses it of a seducer.^[7][6]

In medieval Latin the MLW records it for a catcher or trapper, one eager for praise or honour, and a moneylender or usurer;^[9] John of Salisbury speaks of seekers after glory.^[10]

Timeline

• 65–8 BC – Horace uses it of a legacy hunter.^[2][5]
• 59 BC–17 AD – Livy speaks of one who courts popular favour.^[6][5]
• before 66 AD – Petronius calls a legacy hunter callidus captātor, “a cunning hunter”.^[2][5]
• 348/49–c. 413 AD – Prudentius uses it of a seducer.^[7][5]
• c. 1072 – Hermann of Sankt Gallen uses it of moneylenders.^[9][5]

Meanings

Noun

1. One who strives to obtain or courts something.^[2][6]
2. A legacy hunter.^[2][6]
3. (Late Latin) A seducer.^[7]
4. (Medieval Latin) A catcher, trapper; a moneylender, usurer.^[9]

Word family

• captātōrius

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 Thesaurus linguae Latinae (1900–), Leipzig: Teubner; Berlin: De Gruyter; open-access ed., Munich: Bayerische Akademie der Wissenschaften
4. ^ a b c 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 Köbler, Gerhard (2010), Lateinisches Abkunfts- und Wirkungswörterbuch für Altertum und Mittelalter, online ed., koeblergerhard.de
6. ^ a b c d e f Lewis, Charlton T.; Short, Charles (1879), A Latin Dictionary, Oxford: Clarendon Press
7. ^ a b c d Gaffiot, Félix (2016), Dictionnaire latin-français, new ed. by Gérard Gréco et al. (Gaffiot 2016), online ed.
8. ^ a b Conte, Gian Biagio; Pianezzola, Emilio; Ranucci, Giuliano (2010), il Latino: Vocabolario della lingua latina, 3rd ed., Florence: Le Monnier
9. ^ a b c Mittellateinisches Wörterbuch bis zum ausgehenden 13. Jahrhundert (1967–), Munich: C. H. Beck; Bayerische Akademie der Wissenschaften
10. ^ 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