compressor

Forms

compressor m (genitive compressōris); third declension.^[1][2] Also spelled conpressor.^[1][2]

Etymology

It is formed from Latin comprimō (“to press together; to violate”) + -tor.^[1][3]

Earliest recorded meaning

The verse summary (argumentum) of Plautus' Aulularia has it in the sense of a ravisher (compressoris servolus, the ravisher's slave);^[3][2] Köbler dates these summaries perhaps to the 2nd century AD.^[4]

Semantic evolution

The First Vatican Mythographer uses the word in the same sense, telling how Io was turned into a cow by her ravisher.^[3][2] Victricius calls a martyr the subduer (compressor) of lust.^[3]

The MLW records it in medieval Latin for an oppressor or slanderer.^[5] Neo-Latin writers such as Pontano used it for one who presses down or suppresses, as the magnanimous man suppresses the passions.^[6] English took it over in 1785 as the name of a medical instrument.^[7]

Timeline

• perhaps 2nd century AD – The verse summary of Plautus' Aulularia uses it of a ravisher.^[3][4]
• 1785 – English borrows it for a medical instrument.^[7]

Meanings

Noun

1. A ravisher, rapist.^[1][3]
2. (Late Latin) A suppressor, subduer.^[3]
3. (Medieval Latin) An oppressor, slanderer.^[5]
4. (New Latin) One who presses together or suppresses.^[6]

References

1. ^ a b c d Glare, P. G. W., ed. (2012), Oxford Latin Dictionary, 2nd ed., Oxford: Oxford University Press
2. ^ a b c d Lewis, Charlton T.; Short, Charles (1879), A Latin Dictionary, Oxford: Clarendon Press
3. ^ a b c d e f g Thesaurus linguae Latinae (1900–), Leipzig: Teubner; Berlin: De Gruyter; open-access ed., Munich: Bayerische Akademie der Wissenschaften
4. ^ a b Köbler, Gerhard (2010), Lateinisches Abkunfts- und Wirkungswörterbuch für Altertum und Mittelalter, online ed., koeblergerhard.de
5. ^ a b Mittellateinisches Wörterbuch bis zum ausgehenden 13. Jahrhundert (1967–), Munich: C. H. Beck; Bayerische Akademie der Wissenschaften
6. ^ a b Ramminger, Johann, Neulateinische Wortliste: Ein Wörterbuch des Lateinischen von Petrarca bis 1700, www.neulatein.de
7. ^ a b Harper, Douglas. Online Etymology Dictionary, https://www.etymonline.com