Etymologically
Log in

institor

This is the current revision of this entry, as edited by bogdan on 16 October 2026 at 16:02. This address is a permanent link to this version.
Changes in this edit History

Forms

īnstitor m (genitive īnstitōris); third declension[1]

Etymology

It is from īnsistō “to stand on, apply oneself to” with the agent suffix -tor, and Georges and Gaffiot derive it from īnstō “to stand at”, as one set over a stall.[2][1][3][4]

Earliest recorded meaning

Köbler's first source is Horace, whom he dates 65–8 BC.[5] Gaffiot cites Horace's Epodes and Livy's īnstitor mercis “seller of goods”.[4]

Semantic evolution

It meant a small retailer, shopkeeper or pedlar, one who sold goods for another as an agent, a factor or huckster.[2][6][3] In Seneca it was someone who displays a thing as if for sale, and Quintilian calls a showy speaker an īnstitor ēloquentiae “a hawker of eloquence”.[2][4]

British Medieval Latin used it for a merchant, an agent, and in artis īnstitor for a craftsman.[7]

Timeline

  • 65–8 BC – Horace uses it.[5][4]
  • 59 BC–17 AD – Livy has īnstitor mercis.[4][5]
  • 4 BC–65 AD – Seneca uses it figuratively.[2][5]

Meanings

Noun

  1. A shopkeeper, pedlar; a sales agent.[2][6]
  2. One who displays a thing as if for sale.[2]
  3. (Medieval Latin) A merchant; an agent; a craftsman.[7]

Word family

  • institōrius

References

  1. ^ a b 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 Georges, Karl Ernst (1913–1918), Ausführliches lateinisch-deutsches Handwörterbuch, 8th ed., ed. Heinrich Georges, Hannover; Leipzig: Hahn
  4. ^ a b c d e Gaffiot, Félix (2016), Dictionnaire latin-français, new ed. by Gérard Gréco et al. (Gaffiot 2016), online ed.
  5. ^ a b c d 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 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