incubator

Forms

incubātor m (genitive incubātōris); third declension^[1][2]

Etymology

It is from Latin incubō (“to lie on”) + -tor.^[3][4][5]

Earliest recorded meaning

Tertullian (c. 160–220 AD) has it first, in his treatise On the Soul, of those who sleep in a temple to receive an oracle in their dreams.^[3][6][2][5]

Semantic evolution

From the late 4th century it meant someone who occupies what belongs to another, an unlawful possessor or usurper: Symmachus and Ambrose use it,^[2] Macrobius calls Dionysius the harsh incubator of the Sicilian court,^[6] and Servius says that a tyrant is called incubator imperii.^[6][3] The Theodosian Code has it too.^[4][1] This sense continued in medieval Latin, also figuratively of one who wrongly claims something for himself,^[7][8] and British writers use it of violent occupiers of estates and churches.^[9]

English incubator (1845), an apparatus for hatching eggs by artificial heat, is an agent noun from the verb incubate.^[10]

Timeline

• c. 160–220 AD – Tertullian uses it of sleepers in a temple.^[3][5]
• c. 340–402 AD – Symmachus uses it for a usurper.^[2][5]
• c. 400 AD – Servius notes that a tyrant is called incubator imperii.^[6][5]
• 1st half of the 5th century AD – Macrobius uses it of Dionysius.^[6][5]
• 1845 – English uses incubator for a hatching apparatus.^[10]

Meanings

Noun

1. One who sleeps in a temple to receive an oracle.^[3][6][2]
2. An unlawful possessor, usurper; a tyrant.^[6][1][8][7]

Related words

• incubatio
• English incubator

Usage notes

Du Cange has a second incubator, one who applies himself diligently to something, from a canon of the Council of Lérida of 546; its sense belongs with incumbo.^[11]

References

1. ^ a b c Gaffiot, Félix (2016), Dictionnaire latin-français, new ed. by Gérard Gréco et al. (Gaffiot 2016), online ed.
2. ^ a b c d e Conte, Gian Biagio; Pianezzola, Emilio; Ranucci, Giuliano (2010), il Latino: Vocabolario della lingua latina, 3rd ed., Florence: Le Monnier
3. ^ a b c d e Thesaurus linguae Latinae (1900–), Leipzig: Teubner; Berlin: De Gruyter; open-access ed., Munich: Bayerische Akademie der Wissenschaften
4. ^ a b 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 c d e f g Lewis, Charlton T.; Short, Charles (1879), A Latin Dictionary, Oxford: Clarendon Press
7. ^ a b Mittellateinisches Wörterbuch bis zum ausgehenden 13. Jahrhundert (1967–), Munich: C. H. Beck; Bayerische Akademie der Wissenschaften
8. ^ a b Niermeyer, J. F. (1976), Mediae Latinitatis Lexicon Minus, Leiden: Brill
9. ^ 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
10. ^ a b Harper, Douglas. Online Etymology Dictionary, https://www.etymonline.com
11. ^ du Cange, Charles du Fresne, et al. (1883–1887), Glossarium mediae et infimae latinitatis, augmented ed. by Léopold Favre, Niort: L. Favre