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eversor

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Etymology and origin of the Latin word eversor

Confidence
Established
Formation
Derivation
First attested
81–43 BC, Cicero
Ultimate origin
Latin (vertō)
Etymology tree
inherited borrowed derived
Latin verto
Latin deverto
Latin revertor
Latin obverto
Latin subverto
Latin versura
Latin averto
Latin aversor
Latin praeverto
Latin perverto
Latin perversus
Latin perverse
Latin inverto
Latin everto
Latin eversio
Latin eversor
Latin interverto
Latin vertigo

Forms

ēversor m (genitive ēversōris); third declension[1]

Etymology

It is from Latin ēvertō (“to overturn, destroy”) + -tor, from its supine stem.[2][1][3] That verb is a compound of ex- (“out of”) and vertō (“to turn”).[1]

Earliest recorded meaning

Köbler and the TLL record it first in Cicero,[4][3] who speaks of an eversor civitatis, a destroyer of the state, and of an eversor huius imperii.[5][6]

Semantic evolution

It names someone who destroys or overthrows something.[2] Virgil calls Achilles Priami regnorum eversor, the destroyer of Priam's kingdom, and Quintilian has eversor Carthaginis et Numantiae.[5][6] Silius Italicus uses it of a comet foretelling the fall of kingdoms, and Pliny the Elder has eversor iuris humani.[5] In the Codex Theodosianus an eversor pecuniae is one who squanders money.[5][6] The TLL also records it from Tertullian, both of one who throws down and of one who leads astray.[3] Medieval senses include a bandit, a spendthrift and a seducer;[7] in Britain Bede uses it of an assailant who destroys the citadel of the mind, and the Leges Henrici of a breaker of the written law.[8]

Timeline

  • 81–43 BC – Cicero uses it of a destroyer of the state.[5][4]
  • 70–19 BC – Virgil calls Achilles the destroyer of Priam's kingdom.[5][4]
  • c. 35–95/96 AD – Quintilian has eversor Carthaginis et Numantiae.[5][4]
  • 438 AD – The Codex Theodosianus uses it of a squanderer of money.[5][4]

Meanings

Noun

  1. A destroyer, one who overturns or subverts.[2][5][6]
  2. (Late Latin) A squanderer of money.[5][6]
  3. (Late Latin) One who leads astray, a seducer.[3][7]
  4. (Medieval Latin) A bandit; a spendthrift.[7]

References

  1. ^ a b c 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 Thesaurus linguae Latinae (1900–), Leipzig: Teubner; Berlin: De Gruyter; open-access ed., Munich: Bayerische Akademie der Wissenschaften
  4. ^ a b c d e Köbler, Gerhard (2010), Lateinisches Abkunfts- und Wirkungswörterbuch für Altertum und Mittelalter, online ed., koeblergerhard.de
  5. ^ a b c d e f g h i j Lewis, Charlton T.; Short, Charles (1879), A Latin Dictionary, Oxford: Clarendon Press
  6. ^ a b c d e Conte, Gian Biagio; Pianezzola, Emilio; Ranucci, Giuliano (2010), il Latino: Vocabolario della lingua latina, 3rd ed., Florence: Le Monnier
  7. ^ a b c Niermeyer, J. F. (1976), Mediae Latinitatis Lexicon Minus, Leiden: Brill
  8. ^ 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
Cite this entry

“Eversor.” Etymologically, 20 Oct. 2026, etymologically.com/la/eversor. Accessed 20 Oct. 2026.

Last edited on . ·