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cultor

Etymology and origin of the Latin word cultor

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Confidence
Established
Formation
Derivation
First attested
Cato
Ultimate origin
Latin (colō)

Pronunciation

  • IPA (Classical): [ˈkʊɫ.tɔr][1]
  • IPA (Ecclesiastical): [ˈkul.tor][1]

Forms

cultor m (genitive cultōris, feminine cultrīx); third declension[1] Agrī cultor is sometimes written as one word.[2]

Etymology

It is from colō “to inhabit, cultivate, worship” with the suffix -tor.[2][1]

Earliest recorded meaning

The OLD's earliest citations are from Plautus, of an inhabitant, and Cato, of an observer of laws.[2] Köbler dates Plautus c. 250–184 BC.[3]

Semantic evolution

It meant an inhabitant, as in Plautus, and in Cicero a cultivator of land, a grower, a keeper of animals, as agrī cultor a farmer.[2] In Horace it meant a worshipper of a god, in Livy a partisan, in Cato an observer of laws or religious practices, and in Ovid someone devoted to an occupation.[2]

In Ecclesiastical Latin it meant a planter, cultivator, professor, worshipper, dweller.[4] Medieval Latin used it for a manorial administrator.[5] It survives in Italian cultore and Spanish cultor.[1]

Timeline

  • c. 250–184 BC – Plautus uses it of an inhabitant.[2][3]
  • 234–149 BC – Cato uses it of an observer.[2][3]
  • 81–43 BC – Cicero uses it of a cultivator.[2][3]
  • 65–8 BC – Horace uses it of a worshipper.[2][3]

Meanings

Noun

  1. An inhabitant.[2]
  2. A cultivator, agrī cultor, a farmer.[2]
  3. A worshipper.[2]
  4. A partisan; an observer (of laws).[2]
  5. A devotee (of an occupation).[2]
  6. (Medieval Latin) A manorial administrator.[5]

Word family

References

  1. ^ a b c d e Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
  2. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m n Glare, P. G. W., ed. (2012), Oxford Latin Dictionary, 2nd ed., Oxford: Oxford University Press
  3. ^ a b c d e Köbler, Gerhard (2010), Lateinisches Abkunfts- und Wirkungswörterbuch für Altertum und Mittelalter, online ed., koeblergerhard.de
  4. ^ Stelten, Leo F. (1995), Dictionary of Ecclesiastical Latin, Peabody, Mass.: Hendrickson
  5. ^ a b Niermeyer, J. F. (1976), Mediae Latinitatis Lexicon Minus, Leiden: Brill
Cite this entry

“Cultor.” Etymologically, 16 Oct. 2026, etymologically.com/la/cultor. Accessed 16 Oct. 2026.

Last edited on . ·