laudator

Forms

laudātor m (genitive laudātōris, feminine laudātrīx); third declension^[1] The feminine is laudātrīx.^[1]

Etymology

It is from Latin laudō (“to praise”) + -tor.^[2][1] The verb laudō is made from laus (“praise”),^[3] whose origin is uncertain: the only proposed link is with Germanic words for “song”, as Gothic 𐌰𐍅𐌹𐌻𐌹𐌿𐌸 (awiliuþ, “song of praise”), which would require a preform ⟨*lou-Vd(ʰ)-⟩.^[3]

Earliest recorded meaning

Köbler's first source is the Rhetorica ad Herennium.^[4]

Semantic evolution

It is a person who praises, as Cicero's praisers of integrity and of pleasure, and Horace's old man, laudātor temporis ācti “a praiser of time gone by”.^[2][5] In particular it is one who delivers a funeral eulogy, as in Livy and Pliny the Younger, and in court a character witness for the accused, as in Cicero's speeches against Verres.^[2][5] Church Latin glosses it “one who praises”.^[6] In Medieval Latin it is one who vouches that a witness is law-worthy, and one who gives assent to a deed.^[7]

Timeline

• 86/82 BC – The Rhetorica ad Herennium.^[4]
• 81–43 BC – Cicero of praisers and of character witnesses.^[2][5][4]
• 65–8 BC – Horace of the praiser of time gone by.^[5][4]
• 59 BC–17 AD – Livy of a funeral eulogist.^[2][5][4]

Meanings

Noun

1. A praiser, eulogist.^[2][5][6][1]
2. One who delivers a funeral panegyric.^[2][5]
3. (law) A character witness for the accused.^[2][5]
4. (Medieval Latin) One who vouches for a witness; one who assents to a deed.^[7]

Word family

• laudatorius

Related words

• laudō
• laus

References

1. ^ a b c d e f 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 de Vaan, Michiel (2008), Etymological Dictionary of Latin and the other Italic Languages, Leiden Indo-European Etymological Dictionary Series 7, Leiden; Boston: Brill
4. ^ a b c d e Köbler, Gerhard (2010), Lateinisches Abkunfts- und Wirkungswörterbuch für Altertum und Mittelalter, online ed., koeblergerhard.de
5. ^ a b c d e f g h Lewis, Charlton T.; Short, Charles (1879), A Latin Dictionary, Oxford: Clarendon Press
6. ^ a b Stelten, Leo F. (1995), Dictionary of Ecclesiastical Latin, Peabody, Mass.: Hendrickson
7. ^ a b Niermeyer, J. F. (1976), Mediae Latinitatis Lexicon Minus, Leiden: Brill