funditor

Forms

funditor m (genitive funditōris); third declension^[1]

Etymology

It is a derivative from Latin funda (“sling”), with the ending of iānitor.^[2][3][1] The origin of funda is uncertain: it may go back to ⟨*bʰondʰ-h₂-⟩ “strap”, from Proto-Indo-European *bʰendʰ- (“to bind”), or be a loanword from an unknown language, the source also of Ancient Greek σφενδόνη (sphendónē, “sling”).^[4]

Earliest recorded meaning

Köbler's first source is the historian Claudius Quadrigarius.^[5]

Semantic evolution

It is a soldier armed with a sling, a light-armed slinger, frequent in Caesar and Sallust.^[2][6] Lewis & Short compare iaculātor and sagittārius.^[6]

Timeline

• 1st century BC – Claudius Quadrigarius.^[5]
• c. 50 BC – Caesar of the slingers in his army.^[6][5]
• 86–34 BC – Sallust of slingers.^[6][5]

Meanings

Noun

1. A slinger, a soldier armed with a sling.^[2][6][1]

Related words

• funda

Usage notes

Medieval Latin has a separate funditor “founder, caster of metal”,^[7] from fundō (“to pour”).^[5]

References

1. ^ a b c d e 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. ^ 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 e Köbler, Gerhard (2010), Lateinisches Abkunfts- und Wirkungswörterbuch für Altertum und Mittelalter, online ed., koeblergerhard.de
6. ^ a b c d e Lewis, Charlton T.; Short, Charles (1879), A Latin Dictionary, Oxford: Clarendon Press
7. ^ Niermeyer, J. F. (1976), Mediae Latinitatis Lexicon Minus, Leiden: Brill