Etymologically
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imitator

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Pronunciation

  • Classical: [ɪ.mɪˈtaː.tɔr][1]
  • Ecclesiastical: [i.miˈtaː.tor][1]

Forms

imitātor m (genitive imitātōris); third declension[1]

Etymology

It is from Latin imitor (“to imitate, copy”) + -tor.[2][1][3] De Vaan derives both imitor and imāgō (“image”) from an earlier verb Proto-Italic *imā-je/o-.[4]

Earliest recorded meaning

It is found first in Cicero,[5] who speaks of those whose imitators certain orators claim to be[2] and of the many imitators that leading men find.[6]

Semantic evolution

Cicero also calls actors the imitators of reality and speaks of an imitator of old crimes.[2][6] Nepos calls Atticus a great follower of the ways of the ancestors,[7] and Quintilian has imitators of Thucydides and of the Attic writers.[6] It could be scornful: Horace addresses imitators as servum pecus, a slavish herd,[7] and Ovid calls Brutus the wise imitator of a fool.[6][3] An inscription uses it for a mime actor.[8]

In Christian Latin it meant a follower of an example;[9][10] Gildas speaks of imitators of the apostles, and Bede of one who had followed the earlier abbots.[11] English took imitator in the 1520s from French or directly from Latin.[12]

Timeline

  • 81–43 BC – Cicero uses it of imitators of orators and of actors.[2][5]
  • 65–8 BC – Horace scorns imitators as a slavish herd.[7][5]
  • 43 BC–18 AD – Ovid calls Brutus the imitator of a fool.[6][5]
  • 1520s – English borrows it as imitator.[12]

Meanings

Noun

  1. One who imitates or emulates a person or a way of life.[2][6]
  2. One who copies or reproduces, a mimic.[2][7]
  3. A mime actor.[8]
  4. (Ecclesiastical Latin) A follower.[9][10]

Word family

  • imitatorius

References

  1. ^ a b c d Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
  2. ^ a b c d e f Glare, P. G. W., ed. (2012), Oxford Latin Dictionary, 2nd ed., Oxford: Oxford University Press
  3. ^ a b Bianchi, Rossella; Lelli, Olga (2014), VOLI: Vocabolario di latino, Florence: Le Monnier
  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 Köbler, Gerhard (2010), Lateinisches Abkunfts- und Wirkungswörterbuch für Altertum und Mittelalter, online ed., koeblergerhard.de
  6. ^ a b c d e f Lewis, Charlton T.; Short, Charles (1879), A Latin Dictionary, Oxford: Clarendon Press
  7. ^ a b c d Conte, Gian Biagio; Pianezzola, Emilio; Ranucci, Giuliano (2010), il Latino: Vocabolario della lingua latina, 3rd ed., Florence: Le Monnier
  8. ^ a b Georges, Karl Ernst (1913–1918), Ausführliches lateinisch-deutsches Handwörterbuch, 8th ed., ed. Heinrich Georges, Hannover; Leipzig: Hahn
  9. ^ a b Stelten, Leo F. (1995), Dictionary of Ecclesiastical Latin, Peabody, Mass.: Hendrickson
  10. ^ a b Mittellateinisches Wörterbuch bis zum ausgehenden 13. Jahrhundert (1967–), Munich: C. H. Beck; Bayerische Akademie der Wissenschaften
  11. ^ 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
  12. ^ a b Harper, Douglas. Online Etymology Dictionary, https://www.etymonline.com