Etymologically
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ductor

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Pronunciation

  • Classical: [ˈdʊk.tɔr][1]
  • Ecclesiastical: [ˈduk.tor][1]

Forms

ductor m (genitive ductōris); third declension[1]

Etymology

It is from Latin dūcō (“to lead”) + -tor.[2][1][3] Unlike the other words in ⟨duct-⟩, which are formed from the participle ⟨ductus⟩, it is made directly on the verb.[4] The verb dūcō goes back to Proto-Italic *doukō and Proto-Indo-European *dewk- (“to draw, pull”).[4] Cognate with Gothic 𐍄𐌹𐌿𐌷𐌰𐌽 (tiuhan, “to draw”).[4]

Earliest recorded meaning

Köbler's first source is the historian Coelius Antipater.[5]

Semantic evolution

It is a military commander or leader, as in Cicero's “not only our commanders but whole armies”;[2][6] Lewis & Short note that it is a favourite word of Virgil, who uses it more than twenty times.[2][6] Virgil also uses it of the captain of a ship, Statius of a horse's rider, and Apuleius of a drover.[2]

In medieval texts it is a waggoner, a man who provides an escort for travellers, a duke or a prince.[7] Church Latin glosses it “leader, commander”.[8]

Timeline

  • 130–100 BC – Coelius Antipater.[5]
  • 81–43 BC – Cicero of commanders.[2][5]
  • 70–19 BC – Virgil of commanders and of ships' captains.[2][6][5]
  • c. 45–96 AD – Statius of a rider.[2][5]
  • Middle Ages – Of a waggoner, a duke or a prince.[7]

Meanings

Noun

  1. A military commander, leader; the captain of a ship.[2][6][1]
  2. A rider; a drover.[2]
  3. (Medieval Latin) A waggoner; an escort; a duke, a prince.[7]

Word family

  • armiductor
  • ductrix

References

  1. ^ a b c d e Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
  2. ^ a b c d e f g h i Glare, P. G. W., ed. (2012), Oxford Latin Dictionary, 2nd ed., Oxford: Oxford University Press
  3. ^ Thesaurus linguae Latinae (1900–), Leipzig: Teubner; Berlin: De Gruyter; open-access ed., Munich: Bayerische Akademie der Wissenschaften
  4. ^ a b c 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 Köbler, Gerhard (2010), Lateinisches Abkunfts- und Wirkungswörterbuch für Altertum und Mittelalter, online ed., koeblergerhard.de
  6. ^ a b c d Lewis, Charlton T.; Short, Charles (1879), A Latin Dictionary, Oxford: Clarendon Press
  7. ^ a b c Niermeyer, J. F. (1976), Mediae Latinitatis Lexicon Minus, Leiden: Brill
  8. ^ Stelten, Leo F. (1995), Dictionary of Ecclesiastical Latin, Peabody, Mass.: Hendrickson