denominator

Forms

dēnōminātor m (genitive dēnōminātōris, feminine dēnōminātrīx); third declension^[1]

Etymology

It is from Latin dēnōminō (“to name, designate”) + -tor, an agent noun.^[2][3][4] The verb is formed from dē- and nōminō (“to name”),^[4] which de Vaan lists among the derivatives of nōmen (“name”).^[5]

Earliest recorded meaning

Its only ancient record is in Julian's Latin epitome of Justinian's Novels, dated 555–556 by Köbler, where it means “one who names or designates”.^[2][3][6]

Semantic evolution

In Late Latin the word meant simply a person who names someone.^[2][7] Medieval mathematicians used it for the number below the line in a fraction, the sense of English denominator,^[1][8][4] and in medieval Polish texts it appears in the same arithmetical sense.^[9]

Timeline

• 555–556 – Julian's epitome of the Novels uses it of one who names.^[2][3]
• 1540s – English borrows it from Medieval Latin as a term of arithmetic.^[4]

Meanings

Noun

1. (Late Latin) One who names or designates.^[2][6][7]
2. (Medieval Latin, arithmetic) The denominator of a fraction.^[1][8][9]

Related words

• dēnōminātiō
• dēnōminātivus
• dēnōminō
• English denominator

References

1. ^ a b c d e Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
2. ^ a b c d e Thesaurus linguae Latinae (1900–), Leipzig: Teubner; Berlin: De Gruyter; open-access ed., Munich: Bayerische Akademie der Wissenschaften
3. ^ a b c Köbler, Gerhard (2010), Lateinisches Abkunfts- und Wirkungswörterbuch für Altertum und Mittelalter, online ed., koeblergerhard.de
4. ^ a b c d Harper, Douglas. Online Etymology Dictionary, https://www.etymonline.com
5. ^ de Vaan, Michiel (2008), Etymological Dictionary of Latin and the other Italic Languages, Leiden Indo-European Etymological Dictionary Series 7, Leiden; Boston: Brill
6. ^ a b Gaffiot, Félix (2016), Dictionnaire latin-français, new ed. by Gérard Gréco et al. (Gaffiot 2016), online ed.
7. ^ a b Conte, Gian Biagio; Pianezzola, Emilio; Ranucci, Giuliano (2010), il Latino: Vocabolario della lingua latina, 3rd ed., Florence: Le Monnier
8. ^ 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
9. ^ a b Lexicon mediae et infimae Latinitatis Polonorum (1953–), Kraków: Instytut Języka Polskiego PAN; electronic ed. elexicon.scriptores.pl