Etymologically
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corruptor

This is the current revision of this entry, as edited by bogdan on 16 October 2026 at 18:56. This address is a permanent link to this version.
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Pronunciation

  • IPA (Classical): [kɔrˈrʊp.tɔr][1]
  • IPA (Ecclesiastical): [korˈrup.tor][1]

Forms

corruptor m (genitive corruptōris); third declension[1] Also conruptor, and Plautus has corrumptor.[2][3]

Etymology

It is from corrumpō “to corrupt” with the agent suffix -tor; ⟨corrumpō⟩ is from con- and rumpō “to break”.[2][4]

Earliest recorded meaning

The OLD's earliest citation is from Plautus, of a perverter.[2] Köbler dates Plautus c. 250–184 BC.[4]

Semantic evolution

It was one who corrupts morally, a perverter, seducer, briber, as in Plautus, Cicero and Horace; and in Pliny the Elder a spreader of infection, one who spoils.[2][5][3]

British Medieval Latin used it for a corrupter of a text, a destroyer, and a moral corrupter, seducer.[6]

Timeline

  • c. 250–184 BC – Plautus uses it.[2][4]
  • 81–43 BC – Cicero uses it.[5][4]
  • 23/24–79 AD – Pliny the Elder uses it of infection.[2][4]

Meanings

Noun

  1. A corrupter, seducer, briber.[2][3]
  2. One who spoils; a spreader of infection.[2]
  3. (Medieval Latin) A corrupter of a text.[6]

References

  1. ^ a b c Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
  2. ^ a b c d e f g h Glare, P. G. W., ed. (2012), Oxford Latin Dictionary, 2nd ed., Oxford: Oxford University Press
  3. ^ a b c Lewis, Charlton T.; Short, Charles (1879), A Latin Dictionary, Oxford: Clarendon Press
  4. ^ a b c d e Köbler, Gerhard (2010), Lateinisches Abkunfts- und Wirkungswörterbuch für Altertum und Mittelalter, online ed., koeblergerhard.de
  5. ^ a b Gaffiot, Félix (2016), Dictionnaire latin-français, new ed. by Gérard Gréco et al. (Gaffiot 2016), online ed.
  6. ^ a b 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