nugator

Forms

nūgātor m (genitive nūgātōris); third declension^[1]

Etymology

It is from Latin nūgor (“to trifle”) + -tor.^[2][1] The verb comes from nūgae (“trifles”), for which de Vaan finds no Indo-European etymology; he thinks a link with nux (“nut”) quite likely, since words for trifles are sometimes made from words for nuts or seeds, but the differences in vowel length and consonant suggest that it may be a foreign loanword.^[3]

Earliest recorded meaning

Köbler and Lewis and Short find it first in a comedy of Ennius, quoted by Festus, which calls a man a worthless trifler.^[4][5] De Vaan dates it from Plautus.^[3]

Semantic evolution

It meant a trifler, someone who plays the fool:^[2][5] in Plautus' Captivi Thales is a mere trifler beside another man's wisdom, and Cicero imagines his correspondent calling foreign judges triflers.^[2] It is used as a term of abuse in Persius and Gellius.^[2][5] It also meant a teller of tall stories, as in Plautus' Trinummus and Cicero's speech for Flaccus.^[2][6] Ausonius calls his own little book nugator.^[5] Prudentius may use it of a debauchee.^[5][6]

Ecclesiastical Latin used it for a jester, babbler or braggart,^[7] and British medieval writers for a trifler and for a buffoon.^[8]

Timeline

• 204–169 BC – Ennius uses it in a comedy.^[5][4]
• c. 250–184 BC – Plautus uses it of a trifler and of a teller of tall stories.^[2][4]
• 81–43 BC – Cicero uses it of foreign judges.^[2][4]
• c. 310–394 AD – Ausonius calls his little book nugator.^[5][4]
• 348/49–c. 413 AD – Prudentius uses it, perhaps of a debauchee.^[5][4]

Meanings

Noun

1. A trifler, one who plays the fool; a jester.^[2][5]
2. A teller of tall stories; a braggart.^[2][5]
3. (Late Latin) A debauchee.^[5][6]

Word family

• nūgātōrius

Related words

• nūgae
• nūgor
• nūgāx

References

1. ^ a b c d Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
2. ^ a b c d e f g h i 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 f 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 k Lewis, Charlton T.; Short, Charles (1879), A Latin Dictionary, Oxford: Clarendon Press
6. ^ a b c Conte, Gian Biagio; Pianezzola, Emilio; Ranucci, Giuliano (2010), il Latino: Vocabolario della lingua latina, 3rd ed., Florence: Le Monnier
7. ^ Stelten, Leo F. (1995), Dictionary of Ecclesiastical Latin, Peabody, Mass.: Hendrickson
8. ^ 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