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lator

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Etymology and origin of the Latin word lator

Confidence
Established
Formation
Derivation
First attested
81–43 BC, Cicero
Ultimate origin
Proto-Indo-European (*tlh2-to-)
Etymology tree
inherited borrowed derived
Latin fero
Latin circumfero
Latin introfero
Latin perfero
Latin transfero
English transfer
Latin antefero
Latin suffero
Latin ferculum
Latin vociferor
Latin lator

Forms

lātor m (genitive lātōris); third declension[1]

Etymology

It is from Latin ferō (“to carry, bring; to propose (a law)”) + -tor, formed on the participle stem ⟨lāt-⟩ of that verb.[2][3][1] De Vaan derives the participle from Proto-Italic *tlāto- and Proto-Indo-European *tlh2-to- (“lifted”), from the root also found in tollō (“to lift”); the present ferō has another root, Proto-Indo-European *bher-e/o- (“to carry”).[4]

Earliest recorded meaning

The TLL records it from Cicero on;[3] he speaks of the proposer of the Sempronian law, lator legis Semproniae.[5][6]

Semantic evolution

It is the proposer or mover of a law or resolution:[2][5] Caesar speaks of the boldness of the proposers, latorum audacia, and Livy and Quintilian also use it.[5][6] Cicero has suffragii lator for a voter,[2][6] and Paulus' epitome of Festus explains Jupiter's title Opitulus as opis lator, bringer of help.[2][6] In poetry the TLL finds it only in Paulinus of Nola and Dracontius.[3] In Church Latin it is a bearer,[7] and in medieval Latin a courier or messenger, especially the bearer of a letter, as in the formularies and the law of the Bavarians.[8][9] It passed into Italian as latore.[6][1]

Timeline

  • 81–43 BC – Cicero, of the proposer of a law and of a voter.[5][2][9]
  • c. 50 BC – Caesar, of the proposers of laws.[5][9]
  • 59 BC–17 AD – Livy, of the proposer of a bill.[5][9]

Meanings

Noun

  1. The proposer or mover of a law or resolution.[2][5][1]
  2. suffragiī lātor: a voter.[2][6]
  3. A bearer, bringer.[2][7][6]
  4. (Medieval Latin) A courier, messenger; the bearer of a letter.[8]

References

  1. ^ a b c d Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
  2. ^ a b c d e f g h Glare, P. G. W., ed. (2012), Oxford Latin Dictionary, 2nd ed., Oxford: Oxford University Press
  3. ^ a b c 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 d e f g Lewis, Charlton T.; Short, Charles (1879), A Latin Dictionary, Oxford: Clarendon Press
  6. ^ a b c d e f g Conte, Gian Biagio; Pianezzola, Emilio; Ranucci, Giuliano (2010), il Latino: Vocabolario della lingua latina, 3rd ed., Florence: Le Monnier
  7. ^ a b Stelten, Leo F. (1995), Dictionary of Ecclesiastical Latin, Peabody, Mass.: Hendrickson
  8. ^ a b Niermeyer, J. F. (1976), Mediae Latinitatis Lexicon Minus, Leiden: Brill
  9. ^ a b c d Köbler, Gerhard (2010), Lateinisches Abkunfts- und Wirkungswörterbuch für Altertum und Mittelalter, online ed., koeblergerhard.de
Cite this entry

“Lator.” Etymologically, 20 Oct. 2026, etymologically.com/la/lator. Accessed 20 Oct. 2026.

Last edited on . ·