Etymologically
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collaborator

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Forms

collabōrātor m (genitive collabōrātōris); third declension[1][2] It is also spelled conlabōrātor.[1][2][3]

Etymology

It is from Latin collabōrō (“to work together”) + -tor, an agent noun.[1][4]

Earliest recorded meaning

Köbler and the MLW first find it in Flodoard's history, in 948, of a man appointed in a church as collabōrātor et cooperātor, helper and fellow worker.[1][2]

Semantic evolution

In medieval Latin it meant a fellow worker, helper or assistant,[2][1][5] such as the helper of a sacellārius, or the fellow worker to whom Boniface, in a life of Burchard, will impart the burden of his labour.[2] Conrad of Eberbach calls Christ a most kind collabōrātor.[2] In a Hungarian charter it means the fellow serfs of a village who share its dues,[3] and Polish records use it for the assistants of a schoolmaster or a cantor.[4]

English collaborator, recorded from 1802, came through French collaborateur.[6]

Timeline

  • 948 – Flodoard uses it of a fellow worker in a church.[1][2]
  • 1138/1329 – A Hungarian charter uses it of fellow serfs owing dues.[3]
  • 1498 – A Polish chapter record speaks of a schoolmaster and his assistants.[4]
  • 1802 – English collaborator is borrowed through French.[6]

Meanings

Noun

  1. (Medieval Latin) A fellow worker, helper, assistant; a collaborator.[2][1][5][4]
  2. (Medieval Latin) A fellow serf, sharing the labour dues of a village.[3]

References

  1. ^ a b c d e f g Köbler, Gerhard (2010), Lateinisches Abkunfts- und Wirkungswörterbuch für Altertum und Mittelalter, online ed., koeblergerhard.de
  2. ^ a b c d e f g h Mittellateinisches Wörterbuch bis zum ausgehenden 13. Jahrhundert (1967–), Munich: C. H. Beck; Bayerische Akademie der Wissenschaften
  3. ^ a b c d Bartal, Antal, et al. (1987–), Lexicon Latinitatis Medii Aevi Hungariae, Budapest: Akadémiai Kiadó; online ed. ELTE
  4. ^ a b c d Lexicon mediae et infimae Latinitatis Polonorum (1953–), Kraków: Instytut Języka Polskiego PAN; electronic ed. elexicon.scriptores.pl
  5. ^ a b du Cange, Charles du Fresne, et al. (1883–1887), Glossarium mediae et infimae latinitatis, augmented ed. by Léopold Favre, Niort: L. Favre
  6. ^ a b Harper, Douglas. Online Etymology Dictionary, https://www.etymonline.com