deprecator

Forms

dēprecātor m (genitive dēprecātōris); third declension^[1]

Etymology

It is from Latin dēprecor (“to pray to avert; to plead for”) + -tor.^[2][3][1] dēprecor is a compound of dē- and precor (“to pray”), from prex (“prayer”), which de Vaan traces to Proto-Italic *prek- and Proto-Indo-European *preḱ- (“question”), the root of poscō (“to ask”).^[4][1]

Earliest recorded meaning

The TLL finds it first in Cicero,^[3] who in the Pro Flacco says he had hoped to support Flaccus' honours rather than plead against his misfortunes.^[2][5]

Semantic evolution

It is one who pleads for mercy for another, an intercessor, as Cicero has of envoys and intercessors sent to a commander.^[3] With a genitive it is one who pleads for something to be averted, as Cicero's men sent to avert a danger, or one who pleads for something, as the champions of his own safety.^[2] Livy has a man promising to stand before the consul as intercessor and defender, and Tacitus one who pleads his own cause.^[5][2] Stelten gives “pleader, intercessor”.^[6]

Timeline

• 81–43 BC – Cicero, of an intercessor.^[2][5][3][7]
• 59 BC–17 AD – Livy, of an intercessor with the consul.^[5][7]
• 98–115 AD – Tacitus, of one pleading his own cause.^[2][5][7]

Meanings

Noun

1. One who pleads for mercy, an intercessor.^[2][5][1][6]
2. One who pleads for something to be averted; one who pleads on behalf of something, a champion.^[2][5]

Word family

• dēprecātōrius

Related words

• dēprecor
• precor
• prex
• dēprecātiō

References

1. ^ a b c d e f 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 d Thesaurus linguae Latinae (1900–), Leipzig: Teubner; Berlin: De Gruyter; open-access ed., Munich: Bayerische Akademie der Wissenschaften
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 Lewis, Charlton T.; Short, Charles (1879), A Latin Dictionary, Oxford: Clarendon Press
6. ^ a b Stelten, Leo F. (1995), Dictionary of Ecclesiastical Latin, Peabody, Mass.: Hendrickson
7. ^ a b c Köbler, Gerhard (2010), Lateinisches Abkunfts- und Wirkungswörterbuch für Altertum und Mittelalter, online ed., koeblergerhard.de