Etymologically
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factor

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Pronunciation

  • IPA (Classical): [ˈfak.tɔr][1]
  • IPA (Ecclesiastical): [ˈfak.tor][1]

Forms

factor m (genitive factōris); third declension[1]

Etymology

It is from Latin faciō (“to make, do”) + -tor, an agent noun.[2][1][3] Faciō continues Proto-Italic *fakjō, from Proto-Indo-European *dʰeh₁- (“to put, place”).[1]

Earliest recorded meaning

Plautus, in the Curculio, uses it of the player who sends the ball in a game.[4][1] Köbler dates Plautus about 250–184 BC.[5]

Semantic evolution

It meant a maker or doer, and Lewis & Short note that it is ante- and post-classical.[2][6] Cato the Elder uses it of the men who make olive oil.[4][5] Palladius has a maker of casks and jars, Cassiodorus an armourer, and the jurists use it of the perpetrator of a crime.[6][7]

In Christian Latin it was the Creator, the maker of things and of the world, as in Lactantius.[7][8] In medieval Latin it also meant a worker of miracles, a delegate or attorney, and a commercial agent.[9][10] English factor came through French in the early 15th century for a commercial agent; its use in mathematics dates from 1837.[11]

Timeline

  • c. 250–184 BC – Plautus uses it of a ball player.[4][5]
  • 234–149 BC – Cato the Elder uses it of oil-makers.[4][5]
  • c. 250–317 AD – Lactantius uses it of God the Creator.[7][5]
  • early 15th century – English factor is recorded.[11]

Meanings

Noun

  1. A maker, doer, perpetrator.[2][1]
  2. An oil-maker, olive presser.[4][5]
  3. A ball player who serves the ball.[4][1]
  4. (Ecclesiastical Latin) The Creator.[7][8]
  5. (Medieval Latin) An agent, attorney; a commercial factor.[10]

References

  1. ^ a b c d e f g h 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. ^ Thesaurus linguae Latinae (1900–), Leipzig: Teubner; Berlin: De Gruyter; open-access ed., Munich: Bayerische Akademie der Wissenschaften
  4. ^ a b c d e f Gaffiot, Félix (2016), Dictionnaire latin-français, new ed. by Gérard Gréco et al. (Gaffiot 2016), online ed.
  5. ^ a b c d e f Köbler, Gerhard (2010), Lateinisches Abkunfts- und Wirkungswörterbuch für Altertum und Mittelalter, online ed., koeblergerhard.de
  6. ^ a b Lewis, Charlton T.; Short, Charles (1879), A Latin Dictionary, Oxford: Clarendon Press
  7. ^ a b c d Georges, Karl Ernst (1913–1918), Ausführliches lateinisch-deutsches Handwörterbuch, 8th ed., ed. Heinrich Georges, Hannover; Leipzig: Hahn
  8. ^ a b 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
  9. ^ Mittellateinisches Wörterbuch bis zum ausgehenden 13. Jahrhundert (1967–), Munich: C. H. Beck; Bayerische Akademie der Wissenschaften
  10. ^ a b Niermeyer, J. F. (1976), Mediae Latinitatis Lexicon Minus, Leiden: Brill
  11. ^ a b Harper, Douglas. Online Etymology Dictionary, https://www.etymonline.com