Etymologically
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intercessor

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Pronunciation

  • Classical: [ɪn.tɛrˈkɛs.sɔr][1]
  • Ecclesiastical: [in.terˈt͡ʃɛs.sor][1]

Forms

intercessor m (genitive intercessōris, feminine intercestrīx); third declension[1] The feminine is intercestrīx.[1]

Etymology

It is from Latin intercēdō (“to come between, intervene”) + -tor.[2][3] intercēdō is a compound of inter (“between”) and cēdō1 (“to go”),[1] which de Vaan traces to Proto-Italic *kesd-e/o- (“to go away, avoid”).[4]

Earliest recorded meaning

Cicero has it first.[5] In the speeches on the agrarian law he says a veto would only show the vetoer's folly, not stop the measure.[2]

Semantic evolution

It is first a person who interposes a veto, such as a tribune, and one who steps in to prevent something: in the De legibus whoever blocks a bad measure is to be held a saving citizen.[2] It is also an intermediary or agent, and a mediator in a dispute, as in Cicero's Pro Roscio Amerino.[2] In money matters it is a surety: Cicero jokes that if his friend were always tribune he would not need to look for a guarantor.[6] Apuleius has it of a go-between who pleads for someone.[6] Ancient glossaries explain it as a mediator, a peacemaker and a reconciler of favour.[3] Wiktionary gives “mediator, intercessor”.[1]

Timeline

  • 81–43 BC – Cicero, of a vetoer, a mediator and a surety.[2][6][5]
  • c. 125–175 AD – Apuleius, of a go-between.[6][5]

Meanings

Noun

  1. One who interposes a veto; one who intervenes to prevent something.[2][6]
  2. An intermediary, agent; a mediator in a dispute.[2][6][1]
  3. A surety in money matters.[6]
  4. An intercessor, one who pleads for another.[1][6]

References

  1. ^ a b c d e f g h Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
  2. ^ a b c d e f g Glare, P. G. W., ed. (2012), Oxford Latin Dictionary, 2nd ed., Oxford: Oxford University Press
  3. ^ a b Thesaurus linguae Latinae (1900–), Leipzig: Teubner; Berlin: De Gruyter; open-access ed., Munich: Bayerische Akademie der Wissenschaften
  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 Köbler, Gerhard (2010), Lateinisches Abkunfts- und Wirkungswörterbuch für Altertum und Mittelalter, online ed., koeblergerhard.de
  6. ^ a b c d e f g h Lewis, Charlton T.; Short, Charles (1879), A Latin Dictionary, Oxford: Clarendon Press