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obtrectator

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Etymology and origin of the Latin word obtrectator

Confidence
Established
Formation
Derivation
First attested
81–43 BC, Cicero
Ultimate origin
Latin (obtrecto,-tor)

Forms

obtrectātor m (genitive obtrectātōris); third declension[1] Also spelled optrectātor,[2][3] and in manuscripts obtraectātor.[3]

Etymology

It is from Latin obtrectō (“to disparage”) + -tor.[2][3][4] Festus explained it as one who acts against a person who handles a matter rightly, connecting it with tractō (“to handle”).[5][3]

Earliest recorded meaning

Cicero has it first,[4] as in the Pro Flacco, of a detractor of a kindness.[5][6]

Semantic evolution

It is a person who attacks another in words out of envy or malice, a malicious critic.[2] Cicero speaks of the detractors and enviers of Scipio, of the detractors of his own merits, and of many common detractors, envious of everyone, who invented much.[5][6] Quintilian sets enemies and detractors side by side,[5] and Justin uses it with a dative, of the king's friends who opposed a proposal.[5][6] A list of synonyms ascribed to Cicero puts it beside maledicus and dētrectātor.[3]

Timeline

  • 81–43 BC – Cicero, of the detractors of Scipio and of his own merits.[5][4]
  • c. 35–95/96 AD – Quintilian, beside enemies.[5][4]
  • 3rd century AD? – Justin, with a dative.[5][4]

Meanings

Noun

  1. A detractor, malicious critic, disparager, traducer.[2][5][1]

References

  1. ^ a b Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
  2. ^ a b c d Glare, P. G. W., ed. (2012), Oxford Latin Dictionary, 2nd ed., Oxford: Oxford University Press
  3. ^ a b c d e Thesaurus linguae Latinae (1900–), Leipzig: Teubner; Berlin: De Gruyter; open-access ed., Munich: Bayerische Akademie der Wissenschaften
  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 Lewis, Charlton T.; Short, Charles (1879), A Latin Dictionary, Oxford: Clarendon Press
  6. ^ a b c Georges, Karl Ernst (1913–1918), Ausführliches lateinisch-deutsches Handwörterbuch, 8th ed., ed. Heinrich Georges, Hannover; Leipzig: Hahn
Cite this entry

“Obtrectator.” Etymologically, 20 Oct. 2026, etymologically.com/la/obtrectator. Accessed 20 Oct. 2026.

Last edited on . ·