captor

Forms

captor m (genitive captōris, feminine captrīx); third declension^[1]

Etymology

It is an agent noun from Latin capiō (“to take, seize”) + -tor, formed on the stem of the participle captus¹.^[1][2][3]

Earliest recorded meaning

Augustine uses it in his commentary on the Psalms of a catcher of foxes.^[2][4][5]

Semantic evolution

In Late Latin it named a catcher of animals: a catcher of fish in a sacramentary,^[2] a hunter in a poem of the Latin Anthology, where another edition reads raptor.^[6][2] Medieval writers used it for one who captures people or animals and for a plunderer.^[7] In British records it is a taker of excessive wages, an acceptor of bribes, and one who takes by force;^[8] in France it named an official who collected levies in the king's name, and a receiver or collector.^[9] English borrowed it in the 17th century.^[3]

Timeline

• 354–430 AD – Augustine speaks of a catcher of foxes.^[2][5][10]
• 1355 – Records of the enforcement of the Statutes of Labourers call men who took excessive pay captores.^[8]
• 1379 – A decree of the Parlement of Paris uses it of an official who collected levies for the king.^[9]
• 1680s – English borrows it as captor, one who takes another by force.^[3]

Meanings

Noun

1. A catcher, one who catches animals; a hunter.^[2][4][6][1]
2. (Medieval Latin) One who captures people; a captor.^[7][1]
3. (Medieval Latin) A plunderer.^[7]
4. (Medieval Latin) A taker of excessive wages; an acceptor of bribes.^[8]
5. (Medieval Latin) An official who collected levies; a receiver, collector.^[9]

Related words

• capiō
• captūra
• captus¹
• English captor

Usage notes

Captor is also the present of the rare deponent captor, captārī, a form of capto.^[2][5]

References

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