Etymologically
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fraudator

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Pronunciation

  • Classical: [frau̯ˈdaː.tɔr][1]
  • Ecclesiastical: [frau̯ˈdaː.tor][1]

Forms

fraudātor m (genitive fraudātōris, feminine fraudātrīx); third declension[1]

Etymology

It is from Latin fraudō (“to cheat, defraud”) + -tor, an agent noun.[2][1][3] The verb is made from fraus (“deceit, harm”).[1][4] For the noun de Vaan reconstructs Proto-Italic *frawV- and, with a question mark, Proto-Indo-European *dhrou-V́-d(h)-; the proposed cognates include Sanskrit ध्रुति (dhrúti-, “deception, error”).[4]

Earliest recorded meaning

Köbler dates it from Cicero,[5] who speaks of the shamelessness of swindlers and of men who deny their debts, fraudātōrum et īnfitiātōrum impudentiam, and calls Trebellius a defrauder of his creditors.[2][6]

Semantic evolution

It means a person who defrauds, a cheat or swindler, a rare but classical word.[2][6] Seneca has beneficiōrum fraudātor, one who cheats those who have done him favours, and Martial and Tacitus use it too.[2][6] It is frequent in the jurists of the Digest.[3] A feminine fraudātrīx is also recorded.[7][1]

British medieval writers use it for a deceiver, the Devil included, and for a swindler or embezzler; a synod of 1200 lets priests excommunicate those who defraud them of their tithes.[8]

Timeline

  • 81–43 BC – Cicero uses it of swindlers and of a defrauder of creditors.[2][5]
  • 4 BC–65 AD – Seneca uses it of one who cheats his benefactors.[2][5]
  • 40–102/103 AD – Martial uses it of a swindler and dealer.[2][5]
  • 1200 – A synod lets priests excommunicate those who defraud them of tithes.[8]

Meanings

Noun

  1. A person who defrauds, a swindler, cheat.[2][6]
  2. (Medieval Latin) A swindler, embezzler; one who withholds what is due.[8]

Word family

  • fraudātōrius

References

  1. ^ a b c d e f Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
  2. ^ a b c d e f g h Glare, P. G. W., ed. (2012), Oxford Latin Dictionary, 2nd ed., Oxford: Oxford University Press
  3. ^ a b Thesaurus linguae Latinae (1900–), Leipzig: Teubner; Berlin: De Gruyter; open-access ed., Munich: Bayerische Akademie der Wissenschaften
  4. ^ a b 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 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. ^ Stelten, Leo F. (1995), Dictionary of Ecclesiastical Latin, Peabody, Mass.: Hendrickson
  8. ^ 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