mensor

Pronunciation

• IPA (Classical): [ˈmẽː.sɔr]^[1]
• IPA (Ecclesiastical): [ˈmɛn.sor]^[1]

Forms

mēnsor m (genitive mēnsōris); third declension^[1]

Etymology

It is from Latin mētior (“to measure”) + -tor.^[2][1] De Vaan explains ⟨mētior⟩ as a denominative of a noun ⟨*mēti-⟩, Proto-Indo-European *meh₁-ti- (“measurement”), cognate with Ancient Greek μῆτις (mêtis, “skill”) and Sanskrit मिमीते (mímīte, “measures”).^[3]

Earliest recorded meaning

Köbler's earliest source is Lucilius.^[4] Köbler dates Lucilius c. 180–102 BC.^[4]

Semantic evolution

It meant one who measures or computes, a measurer, as in Horace's maris et terrae mēnsōrem “measurer of sea and land”; a land surveyor, as in Columella and Ovid; and in the Digest a measurer.^[2][5][6]

In Ecclesiastical Latin it means measurer, surveyor.^[7]

Timeline

• c. 180–102 BC – Lucilius uses it.^[4]
• 65–8 BC – Horace uses it.^[6][4]
• 1st century AD – Columella uses it of a surveyor.^[6][4]

Meanings

Noun

1. A measurer.^[2][5]
2. A land surveyor.^[6][7]

Word family

• mēnsōrius
• agrimēnsor
• mēnsōrium

Related words

• mētior
• mēnsūra
• mēnsa

References

1. ^ a b c d Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
2. ^ a b c Glare, P. G. W., ed. (2012), Oxford Latin Dictionary, 2nd ed., Oxford: Oxford University Press
3. ^ 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 Lewis, Charlton T.; Short, Charles (1879), A Latin Dictionary, Oxford: Clarendon Press
6. ^ a b c d Gaffiot, Félix (2016), Dictionnaire latin-français, new ed. by Gérard Gréco et al. (Gaffiot 2016), online ed.
7. ^ a b Stelten, Leo F. (1995), Dictionary of Ecclesiastical Latin, Peabody, Mass.: Hendrickson