Etymologically
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cultrix

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Pronunciation

  • Classical: [ˈkʊɫ.triːks][1]
  • Ecclesiastical: [ˈkul.triks][1]

Forms

cultrīx f (genitive cultrīcis, masculine cultor); third declension[1]

Etymology

It is from Latin colō1 (“to cultivate, inhabit, worship”) + -trīx (“feminine agent suffix”),[2][1] the feminine counterpart of cultor.[3][1] De Vaan traces the verb to Proto-Italic *kwele/o- and Proto-Indo-European *kwelh1-e/o- (“to go round”).[4]

Earliest recorded meaning

The earliest instance the OLD records is in the Atellan farce writer Novius, in the first century BC, where the goddess Laverna is sworn by as the promoter of the speaker's gains: “quae mei cultrix quaestuist”.[2][5]

Semantic evolution

In Classical Latin it followed the senses of colere: a woman or goddess who tends or promotes something (Cicero calls agriculture the “cultrix” of what the earth produces),[2][3] a female inhabitant, used especially of goddesses tied to a place (Catullus calls Diana the dweller on the mountains of Idrus, Virgil Cybele the mother who dwells on Cybelus),[2][6] and, in first-century AD writers, a female worshipper or devotee.[2] Persius applied it even to a pan that “dwells” by the hearth.[2][3]

In Christian Latin it was used of women who worship idols or a pagan goddess: the Vulgate speaks of a worshipper of the great Diana, and Lactantius of a worshipper of the mountain gods.[6][3]

Timeline

  • 1st century BC – Novius uses it of the goddess Laverna as the promoter of someone's gains.[2][5]
  • 81–43 BC – Cicero calls the science of farming the “cultrix” of the earth's produce.[2][5]
  • 81/79–52/50 BC – Catullus uses it of Diana as an inhabitant of the mountains.[2][5]
  • c. 45–96 AD – Statius uses it for a female devotee.[2][5]
  • c. 250–317 AD – Lactantius writes of a worshipper of the mountain gods.[3][5]
  • 390–406 AD – The Vulgate uses it of a worshipper of Diana.[6][5]

Meanings

Noun

  1. A woman or goddess who fosters, tends or promotes something; a female cultivator.[2][3]
  2. A female inhabitant, especially of a goddess associated with a place.[2][3][6]
  3. A female worshipper or devotee.[2][6]
  4. (Ecclesiastical Latin) A woman who worships idols or pagan gods.[6]

Word family

  • nemoricultrix
  • pietāticultrīx
  • silvicultrīx

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 Glare, P. G. W., ed. (2012), Oxford Latin Dictionary, 2nd ed., Oxford: Oxford University Press
  3. ^ a b c d e f g Lewis, Charlton T.; Short, Charles (1879), A Latin Dictionary, Oxford: Clarendon Press
  4. ^ de Vaan, Michiel (2008), Etymological Dictionary of Latin and the other Italic Languages, Leiden Indo-European Etymological Dictionary Series 7, Leiden; Boston: Brill
  5. ^ a b c d e f g Köbler, Gerhard (2010), Lateinisches Abkunfts- und Wirkungswörterbuch für Altertum und Mittelalter, online ed., koeblergerhard.de
  6. ^ a b c d e f Georges, Karl Ernst (1913–1918), Ausführliches lateinisch-deutsches Handwörterbuch, 8th ed., ed. Heinrich Georges, Hannover; Leipzig: Hahn