Etymologically
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detector

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Forms

dētēctor m (genitive dētēctōris); third declension[1][2][3]

Etymology

It is the agent noun from Latin dētegō (“to uncover, reveal”), with the suffix -tor.[4][1][5] The verb is formed from dē- and tegō (“to cover”),[6] which goes back to Proto-Italic *teg-e/o- and Proto-Indo-European *(s)teg-e/o- (“to cover”).[7]

Earliest recorded meaning

Tertullian is the first to use it, figuratively, in his work against Marcion, where Christ is the “detector creatoris”, the one who reveals the creator.[4][8][3]

Semantic evolution

In Late Latin it meant one who uncovers or reveals, mostly in Christian writers;[8][4] a scholiast on Statius also uses it.[4] In the Visigothic laws it is an informer who discloses a crime,[9][3] and British medieval sources use it in the same sense.[10]

English borrowed it in the 1540s for one who detects; the sense of a device dates from 1833.[5]

Timeline

  • c. 160–220 AD – Tertullian calls Christ the revealer of the creator.[4][3]
  • 7th century – The Visigothic laws use it of an informer who discloses a crime.[9][3]
  • 14th century – A Scottish church statute gives half of a fine to the informer.[10]
  • 1540s – English borrows it as detector, one who detects.[5]

Meanings

Noun

  1. One who uncovers;[8][4][1] (figurative) a revealer.[8][4][1]
  2. (Medieval Latin) An informer, one who discloses a crime.[9][10]

References

  1. ^ a b c d Georges, Karl Ernst (1913–1918), Ausführliches lateinisch-deutsches Handwörterbuch, 8th ed., ed. Heinrich Georges, Hannover; Leipzig: Hahn
  2. ^ Gaffiot, Félix (2016), Dictionnaire latin-français, new ed. by Gérard Gréco et al. (Gaffiot 2016), online ed.
  3. ^ a b c d e Köbler, Gerhard (2010), Lateinisches Abkunfts- und Wirkungswörterbuch für Altertum und Mittelalter, online ed., koeblergerhard.de
  4. ^ a b c d e f g Thesaurus linguae Latinae (1900–), Leipzig: Teubner; Berlin: De Gruyter; open-access ed., Munich: Bayerische Akademie der Wissenschaften
  5. ^ a b c Harper, Douglas. Online Etymology Dictionary, https://www.etymonline.com
  6. ^ Glare, P. G. W., ed. (2012), Oxford Latin Dictionary, 2nd ed., Oxford: Oxford University Press
  7. ^ de Vaan, Michiel (2008), Etymological Dictionary of Latin and the other Italic Languages, Leiden Indo-European Etymological Dictionary Series 7, Leiden; Boston: Brill
  8. ^ a b c d Lewis, Charlton T.; Short, Charles (1879), A Latin Dictionary, Oxford: Clarendon Press
  9. ^ a b c Mittellateinisches Wörterbuch bis zum ausgehenden 13. Jahrhundert (1967–), Munich: C. H. Beck; Bayerische Akademie der Wissenschaften
  10. ^ a b c 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