Etymologically
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captator

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Pronunciation

  • Classical: [kapˈtaː.tɔr][1]
  • Ecclesiastical: [kapˈtaː.tor][1]

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