domitor

Forms

domitor m (genitive domitōris, feminine domitrīx); third declension^[1] Ammianus has a later form domātor.^[2]

Etymology

It is from Latin domō (“to tame, conquer”) + -tor.^[3][1][4] De Vaan traces domō to Proto-Italic *domaje- and Proto-Indo-European *domh₂-eie/o- (“to tame”), originally a causative, and compares Ancient Greek δάμνημι (dámnēmi, “to tame, subdue”).^[5] Wiktionary compares Ancient Greek πανδάματωρ (pandámatōr, “all-conquering”), Sanskrit दमितृ (damitṛ́, “tamer”) and the Illyrian name Domator, which may point to an old agent noun, but notes Beekes' view that they may be independent formations.^[1][4]

Earliest recorded meaning

De Vaan and Köbler date it from Cicero, who writes of handing horses over to trainers to make them easier to manage.^[5][6][3]

Semantic evolution

It is a tamer or trainer of animals, especially horses, a word Lewis & Short call rare but classical.^[3][2] Virgil uses it of a hero as breaker of horses and calls the son of Saturn the tamer of the sea.^[2][3] It is also a conqueror of peoples and lands: Velleius says that Germany rebelled as soon as its conqueror turned his eyes away.^[3]

Timeline

• 81–43 BC – Cicero of horse trainers.^[3][6]
• 70–19 BC – Virgil of the tamer of the sea.^[3][6]
• c. 390 AD – Ammianus has the form domātor.^[2][6]

Meanings

Noun

1. A tamer, breaker, trainer of animals.^[3][2][1]
2. A conqueror, subduer, vanquisher.^[3][2][1]
3. One who masters a force or condition.^[3]

Related words

• domitō
• domitrīx

References

1. ^ a b c d e f g Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
2. ^ a b c d e f Lewis, Charlton T.; Short, Charles (1879), A Latin Dictionary, Oxford: Clarendon Press
3. ^ a b c d e f g h i j Glare, P. G. W., ed. (2012), Oxford Latin Dictionary, 2nd ed., Oxford: Oxford University Press
4. ^ a b Thesaurus linguae Latinae (1900–), Leipzig: Teubner; Berlin: De Gruyter; open-access ed., Munich: Bayerische Akademie der Wissenschaften
5. ^ 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
6. ^ a b c d Köbler, Gerhard (2010), Lateinisches Abkunfts- und Wirkungswörterbuch für Altertum und Mittelalter, online ed., koeblergerhard.de