fautor

Pronunciation

• IPA (Classical): [ˈfau̯.tɔr]^[1]
• IPA (Ecclesiastical): [ˈfaːu̯.tor]^[1]

Forms

fautor m (genitive fautōris, feminine fautrīx); third declension^[1] The uncontracted favitor occurs in Plautus and Lucilius.^[2][3]

Etymology

It is from Latin faveō (“to favour”) + -tor, contracted from ⟨favitor⟩.^[2][4][1] De Vaan reconstructs ⟨faveō⟩ as Proto-Italic *faw-ē-, Proto-Indo-European *bʰh₂w-eh₁- (“to be favourable to”), cognate with Old Irish báe (“profit, benefit”).^[5]

Earliest recorded meaning

Köbler's earliest source is Plautus, who has favitor.^[6][2] Köbler dates Plautus c. 250–184 BC.^[6]

Semantic evolution

It meant one who promotes another's interests, a patron; an admirer, supporter, especially at the games and in the theatre, as in Lucilius; a political supporter, partisan; and one who fosters something, all in Cicero.^[2][7]

In Ecclesiastical Latin it means patron, protector, favourer.^[8] French fauteur, Italian fautore and Spanish fautor are learned borrowings of it.^[1]

Timeline

• c. 250–184 BC – Plautus uses favitor.^[2][6]
• c. 180–102 BC – Lucilius uses it of a supporter.^[2][6]
• 81–43 BC – Cicero uses it of a patron and a partisan.^[2][6]

Meanings

Noun

1. A patron, promoter.^[2][3]
2. An admirer, supporter (at the games).^[2]
3. A political partisan.^[2]
4. One who fosters (something).^[2]

Related words

• faveō
• favor
• fautrīx
• faustus

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 j k Glare, P. G. W., ed. (2012), Oxford Latin Dictionary, 2nd ed., Oxford: Oxford University Press
3. ^ a b Lewis, Charlton T.; Short, Charles (1879), A Latin Dictionary, Oxford: Clarendon Press
4. ^ Thesaurus linguae Latinae (1900–), Leipzig: Teubner; Berlin: De Gruyter; open-access ed., Munich: Bayerische Akademie der Wissenschaften
5. ^ 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 e Köbler, Gerhard (2010), Lateinisches Abkunfts- und Wirkungswörterbuch für Altertum und Mittelalter, online ed., koeblergerhard.de
7. ^ Gaffiot, Félix (2016), Dictionnaire latin-français, new ed. by Gérard Gréco et al. (Gaffiot 2016), online ed.
8. ^ Stelten, Leo F. (1995), Dictionary of Ecclesiastical Latin, Peabody, Mass.: Hendrickson