Etymologically
Log in

ordinator

Etymology and origin of the Latin word ordinator

History Permalink
Confidence
Established
Formation
Derivation
First attested
Seneca
Ultimate origin
Latin (ōrdō)
Etymology tree
inherited borrowed derived
Latin ordino
Latin ordinatio
Latin ordinator

Pronunciation

  • IPA (Classical): [oːr.dɪˈnaː.tɔr][1]
  • IPA (Ecclesiastical): [or.diˈnaː.tor][1]

Forms

ōrdinātor m (genitive ōrdinātōris, feminine ōrdinātrīx); third declension[1]

Etymology

It is from Latin ōrdinō (“to arrange”) + -tor, from ōrdō “row, order”.[2][1] De Vaan reconstructs ⟨ōrdō⟩ as Proto-Italic ⟨*ord-n-⟩ “row, order”, perhaps from Proto-Indo-European *h₂or-d-, and notes that its original denominative was ōrnō.[3]

Earliest recorded meaning

The OLD's earliest citation is Seneca, ōrdinātor lītis, one who institutes a lawsuit.[2][4] Köbler dates Seneca 4 BC–65 AD.[5]

Semantic evolution

Post-Augustan, it meant one who institutes legal proceedings in due form, as in Seneca, and an orderer, regulator, arranger, as in Apuleius and Hilary.[2][6]

In Ecclesiastical Latin it means one who ordains, arranger, regulator.[7] Medieval Latin used it for a manorial bailiff and a bishop's delegate for secular business.[8]

Timeline

  • 4 BC–65 AD – Seneca uses it of a pleader.[2][5]
  • c. 125–175 AD – Apuleius uses it of a regulator.[2][5]

Meanings

Noun

  1. A regulator, arranger.[2][6]
  2. One who institutes a lawsuit.[2]
  3. (Ecclesiastical Latin) One who ordains.[7]
  4. (Medieval Latin) A manorial bailiff.[8]

References

  1. ^ a b c d Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
  2. ^ a b c d e f g 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. ^ Gaffiot, Félix (2016), Dictionnaire latin-français, new ed. by Gérard Gréco et al. (Gaffiot 2016), online ed.
  5. ^ a b c Köbler, Gerhard (2010), Lateinisches Abkunfts- und Wirkungswörterbuch für Altertum und Mittelalter, online ed., koeblergerhard.de
  6. ^ a b Lewis, Charlton T.; Short, Charles (1879), A Latin Dictionary, Oxford: Clarendon Press
  7. ^ a b Stelten, Leo F. (1995), Dictionary of Ecclesiastical Latin, Peabody, Mass.: Hendrickson
  8. ^ a b Niermeyer, J. F. (1976), Mediae Latinitatis Lexicon Minus, Leiden: Brill
Cite this entry

“Ordinator.” Etymologically, 17 Oct. 2026, etymologically.com/la/ordinator. Accessed 17 Oct. 2026.

Last edited on . ·