derisor

Forms

dērīsor m (genitive dērīsōris); third declension^[1]

Etymology

It is from Latin dērīdeō (“to laugh at, mock”) + -tor, an agent noun.^[2][1][3] De Vaan dates dērīdeō from Plautus and finds no good Indo-European etymology for its base rīdeō (“to laugh”): he calls the old comparison with Sanskrit व्रीडते (vrīḍate, “is shy”) semantically gratuitous.^[4]

Earliest recorded meaning

The TLL's first quotation is from Plautus' Captivi, scio absurde dictum hoc derisores dicere, “I know mockers call this absurdly said”;^[5] Lewis and Short take the word there of a jeering parasite.^[6]

Semantic evolution

It is a mocker or scoffer.^[2][6] Lewis and Short call it rare and note that Cicero does not use it.^[6] Publilius Syrus has qui se ipse laudat, cito derisorem invenit, “whoever praises himself soon finds a mocker”.^[5] Horace uses it of a man always joking and, in the Epistles, of a parasite, and Martial of a stage mimic.^[6][3] Phaedrus contrasts derisor with deridendus, one who mocks with one who is mocked, Seneca calls Socrates derisor omnium, and Juvenal has Anubis as derisor populi.^[3][6] It is also a Roman cognomen in inscriptions.^[5] The Vulgate uses it in Proverbs,^[6] and medieval British writers keep the sense mocker, scoffer; an Old English glossary renders it telend.^[7]

Timeline

• c. 250–184 BC – Plautus uses it in the Captivi.^[5][8]
• 1st century BC – Publilius Syrus: whoever praises himself soon finds a mocker.^[5][8]
• 65–8 BC – Horace uses it of a joker and of a parasite.^[6][8]
• 40–102/103 AD – Martial applies it to a stage mimic.^[6][8]
• 390–406 AD – The Vulgate uses it in Proverbs.^[6][8]

Meanings

Noun

1. A mocker, scoffer, derider.^[2][6][9]
2. A jeering parasite, a buffoon who amuses the company at table.^[6][9]
3. A mimic, a comic actor.^[6][3]

Word family

• dērīsōrius

Related words

• dērīdeō
• rīdeō

References

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