Etymologically
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lusor

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Pronunciation

  • Classical: [ˈɫuː.sɔr][1]
  • Ecclesiastical: [ˈluː.s̬or][1]

Forms

lūsor m (genitive lūsōris); third declension[1]

Etymology

It is from Latin lūdō (“to play”) + -tor.[2][1][3] De Vaan derives that verb from Proto-Italic *loide/o- (“to play”) and Proto-Indo-European *loid- (“to let go often, play”), an o-grade present with frequentative meaning.[4] Cognate with Middle Irish laídid (“impels”) and Lithuanian léisti (“to let”).[4]

Earliest recorded meaning

De Vaan and Köbler record it first in Plautus,[4][5] where it means a mocker: te ut deludam contra, lusorem meum, “so that I may fool you in return, you who make fun of me”.[2][6]

Semantic evolution

Ovid uses it of a player at a game, who keeps losing so as not to have lost, and Seneca of players who try to show up a partner.[2][6] Ulpian uses it of a gambler at dice.[2][6] Ovid calls himself tenerorum lusor amorum, the playful poet of tender loves.[2][7] An inscription of the time of Tiberius names a lusor of Caesar, a jester and mimic.[2][3] Juvenal has cum lusore catello, “with a playful puppy”.[6] In medieval Britain it is a player or playmate, a player of dice or chess, an actor or entertainer, and a trickster.[8]

Timeline

  • c. 250–184 BC – Plautus uses it of a mocker.[2][5]
  • 43 BC–18 AD – Ovid uses it of a gambler and of a playful poet.[2][5]
  • before 223 AD – Ulpian uses it of a dice player.[2][5]

Meanings

Noun

  1. A player of a game, a gambler.[2][6]
  2. A jester, clown.[2]
  3. One who makes fun of someone, a tease, mocker; one who writes playfully of a subject.[2][6][7]
  4. (Medieval Latin) An actor, entertainer; a trickster.[8]

Word family

  • lūsōrius

References

  1. ^ a b c d Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
  2. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l 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. ^ a b c 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 Köbler, Gerhard (2010), Lateinisches Abkunfts- und Wirkungswörterbuch für Altertum und Mittelalter, online ed., koeblergerhard.de
  6. ^ a b c d e f Lewis, Charlton T.; Short, Charles (1879), A Latin Dictionary, Oxford: Clarendon Press
  7. ^ a b Conte, Gian Biagio; Pianezzola, Emilio; Ranucci, Giuliano (2010), il Latino: Vocabolario della lingua latina, 3rd ed., Florence: Le Monnier
  8. ^ 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