gubernator

Pronunciation

• IPA (Classical): [ɡʊ.bɛrˈnaː.tɔr]^[1]
• IPA (Ecclesiastical): [ɡu.berˈnaː.tor]^[1]

Forms

gubernātor m (genitive gubernātōris, feminine gubernātrīx); third declension^[1]

Etymology

It is from Latin gubernō (“to steer”) + -tor, an agent noun.^[2][1] Gubernō is borrowed from Ancient Greek κυβερνάω (kubernáō, “to steer”).^[1] Saalfeld compares Ancient Greek κυβερνήτης (kubernḗtēs, “helmsman”).^[3]

Earliest recorded meaning

Ennius, in the Annals, uses it of a charioteer who turned his horses.^[4] Köbler dates Ennius 204–169 BC.^[5]

Semantic evolution

Its main sense was the helmsman or pilot of a ship, as in Plautus' “if you are the look-out of this ship, I will be the helmsman” and Cicero's helmsman sitting quietly in the stern holding the tiller.^[2][6] Caesar speaks of the knowledge of pilots, and Quintilian of good and bad ones.^[4]

Figuratively it was a guide or ruler, as Cicero's gubernator civitatis, the pilot of the state.^[7][4] In medieval Latin it meant a director, administrator or ruler, also a protector and guardian.^[8][5] English governor came from Old French and Latin about 1300, first of a keeper or guide.^[9]

Timeline

• 204–169 BC – Ennius uses it of a charioteer.^[4][5]
• c. 250–184 BC – Plautus uses it of a helmsman.^[6][5]
• 81–43 BC – Cicero uses it of the pilot of the state.^[7][5]
• c. 1300 – English governor is recorded.^[9]

Meanings

Noun

1. A helmsman, pilot.^[2][1]
2. A guide, ruler, governor.^[4][1]
3. (Medieval Latin) An administrator; a guardian.^[8][5]

Word family

• progubernator

Related words

• gubernātrīx
• guberno
• English governor

References

1. ^ a b c d e f g 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. ^ Saalfeld, Günther Alexander (1874), Index Graecorum vocabulorum in linguam latinam translatorum, Berlin: Weidmann
4. ^ a b c d e Georges, Karl Ernst (1913–1918), Ausführliches lateinisch-deutsches Handwörterbuch, 8th ed., ed. Heinrich Georges, Hannover; Leipzig: Hahn
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 Gaffiot, Félix (2016), Dictionnaire latin-français, new ed. by Gérard Gréco et al. (Gaffiot 2016), online ed.
8. ^ a b Mittellateinisches Wörterbuch bis zum ausgehenden 13. Jahrhundert (1967–), Munich: C. H. Beck; Bayerische Akademie der Wissenschaften
9. ^ a b Harper, Douglas. Online Etymology Dictionary, https://www.etymonline.com