Etymologically
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ordinator

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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