Etymologically
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flator

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Pronunciation

  • Classical: [ˈfɫaː.tɔr][1]
  • Ecclesiastical: [ˈflaː.tor][1]

Forms

flātor m (genitive flātōris); third declension[1]

Etymology

It is from Latin flō (“to blow”) + -tor, literally “blower”.[2][1] De Vaan traces flō with a question mark to Proto-Indo-European *bʰleh₁- (“to blow”).[3]

Earliest recorded meaning

An inscription with the mining law of Vipasca speaks of the slaves and freedmen of the silver and copper flatores, the men who cast the metal.[4][2]

Semantic evolution

The epitome of Festus glosses it as tibicen, a player on a wind instrument, and glossaries give the same explanation.[5][6][4] In the Digest the moneyers are called aeris argenti auri flatores, casters of bronze, silver and gold.[5][6]

In British medieval records it is the man who works the bellows in smelting,[7] and in New Latin any blower, or anything that blows.[1] Etymonline traces English flavor, through Old French, probably to a Vulgar Latin flator “odour”, literally “that which blows”.[8]

Timeline

  • 533 AD – The Digest calls the moneyers casters of bronze, silver and gold.[5][9]
  • 8th century – Paul's epitome of Festus explains it as a piper.[5][9]
  • 1333 – An English account records wages for flatores who worked the bellows.[7]

Meanings

Noun

  1. A player on a wind instrument, piper.[2][5][10]
  2. A caster or melter of metals; a coiner.[2][5][6]
  3. (Medieval Latin) A worker of the bellows in smelting.[7][1]
  4. (New Latin) A blower, anything that blows.[1]

References

  1. ^ a b c d e f g Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
  2. ^ a b c d Glare, P. G. W., ed. (2012), Oxford Latin Dictionary, 2nd ed., Oxford: Oxford University Press
  3. ^ de Vaan, Michiel (2008), Etymological Dictionary of Latin and the other Italic Languages, Leiden Indo-European Etymological Dictionary Series 7, Leiden; Boston: Brill
  4. ^ a b Thesaurus linguae Latinae (1900–), Leipzig: Teubner; Berlin: De Gruyter; open-access ed., Munich: Bayerische Akademie der Wissenschaften
  5. ^ a b c d e f Lewis, Charlton T.; Short, Charles (1879), A Latin Dictionary, Oxford: Clarendon Press
  6. ^ a b c Georges, Karl Ernst (1913–1918), Ausführliches lateinisch-deutsches Handwörterbuch, 8th ed., ed. Heinrich Georges, Hannover; Leipzig: Hahn
  7. ^ a b c 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
  8. ^ Harper, Douglas. Online Etymology Dictionary, https://www.etymonline.com
  9. ^ a b Köbler, Gerhard (2010), Lateinisches Abkunfts- und Wirkungswörterbuch für Altertum und Mittelalter, online ed., koeblergerhard.de
  10. ^ Gaffiot, Félix (2016), Dictionnaire latin-français, new ed. by Gérard Gréco et al. (Gaffiot 2016), online ed.