cunctator

Forms

cūnctātor m (genitive cūnctātōris); third declension^[1]

Etymology

It is from Latin cūnctor (“to delay, hesitate”) + -tor, an agent noun.^[2][1][3] De Vaan follows the standard view that the verb is a frequentative, or a derivative of a past participle, from Proto-Italic *konkito- (“hanging”), and traces it to Proto-Indo-European *ḱonk-(e)ie- (“to hang”); the step from “be suspended” to “hesitate” he finds unremarkable.^[4]

Cognate with Hittite kank- (“to hang, weigh”), Old English hōn (“to hang”) and Old Norse hengja (“to hang, suspend”).^[4]

Earliest recorded meaning

The TLL's first example is a letter from Caelius in Cicero's correspondence, which contrasts how slow and ineffective Marcellus is with how much of a cunctātor Servius is.^[3][5]

Semantic evolution

It names someone who hesitates or delays, often in a bad sense: Livy speaks of a man turned cunctātor from the keenest of fighters.^[2][5] It could also be a good quality, caution: Livy contrasts the quick and daring Athenians with the slow Spartans, and Tacitus pairs it with cautus.^[5][3]

As a surname it belonged to Quintus Fabius Maximus, the dictator.^[2][6] Conte explains it by his strategy in the Second Punic War, wearing down the Carthaginian army in Italy while avoiding open battle,^[6] and Quintilian says that among his many virtues as a commander he was called Cunctātor.^[3] Later writers such as Ammianus use it of cautious generals.^[3] English took it over in the 1650s.^[7]

Timeline

• 81–43 BC – A letter from Caelius among Cicero's letters calls Servius a cunctātor.^[3][5][8]
• 59 BC–17 AD – Livy uses it of Fabius Maximus and of the Spartan people.^[5][3][8]
• c. 35–95/96 AD – Quintilian names Fabius Cunctātor.^[3][8]
• 98–115 AD – Tacitus calls a general a cunctātor by nature.^[3][8]
• c. 390 AD – Ammianus uses it of cautious leaders.^[3][8]
• 1650s – English borrows it as cunctator.^[7]

Meanings

Noun

1. A person who hesitates or delays, a lingerer.^[2][5]
2. A cautious, careful person.^[5][9]
3. (attributive) Inclined to delay.^[9]
4. Cunctātor: the surname of Quintus Fabius Maximus, the dictator.^[2][5]

Related words

• cūnctātiō
• English cunctator

Usage notes

Lewis and Short note that Cicero does not use it, and think that Fabius kept the name as a title of honour after his master of horse had used it as a reproach.^[5] Livy reports that the master of horse called him sluggish instead of cautious, prō cunctātōre segnem.^[5][9]

References

1. ^ a b c d Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
2. ^ a b c d e Glare, P. G. W., ed. (2012), Oxford Latin Dictionary, 2nd ed., Oxford: Oxford University Press
3. ^ a b c d e f g h i j Thesaurus linguae Latinae (1900–), Leipzig: Teubner; Berlin: De Gruyter; open-access ed., Munich: Bayerische Akademie der Wissenschaften
4. ^ a b 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 h i j Lewis, Charlton T.; Short, Charles (1879), A Latin Dictionary, Oxford: Clarendon Press
6. ^ a b Conte, Gian Biagio; Pianezzola, Emilio; Ranucci, Giuliano (2010), il Latino: Vocabolario della lingua latina, 3rd ed., Florence: Le Monnier
7. ^ a b Harper, Douglas. Online Etymology Dictionary, https://www.etymonline.com
8. ^ a b c d e Köbler, Gerhard (2010), Lateinisches Abkunfts- und Wirkungswörterbuch für Altertum und Mittelalter, online ed., koeblergerhard.de
9. ^ a b c Georges, Karl Ernst (1913–1918), Ausführliches lateinisch-deutsches Handwörterbuch, 8th ed., ed. Heinrich Georges, Hannover; Leipzig: Hahn