Etymologically
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moderator

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Pronunciation

  • Classical: [mɔ.dɛˈraː.tɔr][1]
  • Ecclesiastical: [mo.deˈraː.tor][1]

Forms

moderātor m (genitive moderātōris, feminine moderātrīx); third declension[1] The feminine is moderātrīx.[1]

Etymology

It is from Latin moderor (“to regulate, control”) + -tor.[2][1] moderor is built on the stem of modus (“measure”),[1] which de Vaan traces to Proto-Italic *medo- (“measure, judgement”) and Proto-Indo-European *med-o- (“measure”).[3]

Earliest recorded meaning

Naevius has it first,[4][2] in a tragedy: trionum hic moderator rusticus, “this country driver of plough-oxen”.[2]

Semantic evolution

It is first someone who guides or handles something: Ovid has a driver of horses and, for an angler, the “guider of the rod”, and Claudian a wool-comber.[5] More often it is one who controls or governs: Cicero has the ruler and director of so great a work, and asks where the managers of the public meetings were.[5][2] It is also one who restrains, as Cicero's shame, the check on desire, and in Ovid there is no one to put a limit to an evil.[2][5] Martial has it of a tutor of the young.[5] Church Latin uses it of a guide, director or adviser, a confessor and a religious superior.[6]

Timeline

  • c. 235–200 BC – Naevius, of a driver of oxen.[2][4]
  • 81–43 BC – Cicero, of a ruler, a manager and a restraint.[2][5][4]
  • 43 BC–18 AD – Ovid, of a driver and an angler.[5][4]
  • 40–102/103 AD – Martial, of a tutor.[5][4]
  • Ecclesiastical Latin – A spiritual director, a confessor, a superior.[6]

Meanings

Noun

  1. One who guides or handles something; a driver.[2][5]
  2. A governor, ruler, master, director.[2][5][1]
  3. One who restrains or checks.[2][5]
  4. One who regulates or determines; a moderator.[2][1]
  5. (Ecclesiastical Latin) A spiritual director, adviser, confessor; a superior.[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 h i j k 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 c d e f g h i j Lewis, Charlton T.; Short, Charles (1879), A Latin Dictionary, Oxford: Clarendon Press
  6. ^ a b c Stelten, Leo F. (1995), Dictionary of Ecclesiastical Latin, Peabody, Mass.: Hendrickson