Etymologically
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impulsor

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Pronunciation

  • Classical: [ɪmˈpʊɫ.sɔr][1]
  • Ecclesiastical: [imˈpul.sor][1]

Forms

impulsor m (genitive impulsōris, feminine impulstrīx); third declension[1] It is also spelled ⟨inpulsor⟩.[2][3]

Etymology

It is from Latin impellō (“to strike against, drive on”) + -tor.[2][1][4] De Vaan lists it, with ⟨impellere⟩, among the compounds and derivatives of pellō (“to push, drive”), which goes back to Proto-Italic *pelna- (“to approach”) and Proto-Indo-European *pl-n(e)-h2- (“to approach”); he explains the meaning by a shift from “bring closer to” to “push, impel”.[5]

Earliest recorded meaning

The TLL records it from Plautus on,[6][5] whose Aulularia has deus impulsor mihi fuit, “a god drove me to it”.[6][7]

Semantic evolution

It is one who urges or incites someone to act, an instigator,[2][3] mostly in a bad or neutral sense.[6] Terence has me impulsore, “at my instigation”;[3][8] Cicero writes that a friend was not the adviser and instigator of his departure, but certainly approved of it, and has Caesare impulsore atque adiutore, “with Caesar as instigator and helper”.[3][7] Suetonius has the Jews of Rome rioting at the instigation of Chrestus, and Tacitus fears that the young Domitian may take bad advice from evil instigators, pravis impulsoribus.[6][8]

Christian writers use it of the devil: Cassian calls him not so much a helper as a most violent instigator.[6] Augustine reports Impulsor among the names given to Jupiter.[6] Late writers such as Sidonius also use it of things.[6]

Timeline

  • c. 250–184 BC – Plautus has a god as the impulsor of a deed.[6][9]
  • 190–159 BC – Terence uses me impulsore, “at my instigation”.[3][9]
  • 81–43 BC – Cicero uses it of the instigators of a crime.[3][9]
  • c. 75–c. 150 AD – Suetonius writes of rioting at the instigation of Chrestus.[6][9]
  • 354–430 AD – Augustine reports it as a name of Jupiter.[6][9]

Meanings

Noun

  1. One who urges another to act, an instigator, inciter.[2][3][8]
  2. (Ecclesiastical Latin) Of the devil, the instigator of sin.[6]

Usage notes

The grammarian Donatus notes that those who help in a good cause are called adiutores, and in a bad one impulsores.[6] Lewis and Short compare auctor, hortātor and monitor.[3]

References

  1. ^ a b c d 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. ^ a b c d e f g h Lewis, Charlton T.; Short, Charles (1879), A Latin Dictionary, Oxford: Clarendon Press
  4. ^ Bianchi, Rossella; Lelli, Olga (2014), VOLI: Vocabolario di latino, Florence: Le Monnier
  5. ^ 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
  6. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l Thesaurus linguae Latinae (1900–), Leipzig: Teubner; Berlin: De Gruyter; open-access ed., Munich: Bayerische Akademie der Wissenschaften
  7. ^ a b Conte, Gian Biagio; Pianezzola, Emilio; Ranucci, Giuliano (2010), il Latino: Vocabolario della lingua latina, 3rd ed., Florence: Le Monnier
  8. ^ a b c Georges, Karl Ernst (1913–1918), Ausführliches lateinisch-deutsches Handwörterbuch, 8th ed., ed. Heinrich Georges, Hannover; Leipzig: Hahn
  9. ^ a b c d e Köbler, Gerhard (2010), Lateinisches Abkunfts- und Wirkungswörterbuch für Altertum und Mittelalter, online ed., koeblergerhard.de