Etymologically
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pacator

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Pronunciation

  • Classical: [paːˈkaː.tɔr][1]
  • Ecclesiastical: [paˈkaː.tor][1]

Forms

pācātor m (genitive pācātōris, feminine pācātrīx); third declension[1]

Etymology

It is an agent noun from Latin pācō (“to pacify, subdue”) with the suffix -tor.[2][1][3] The verb is derived from pāx (“peace”),[4] which goes back to Proto-Italic *pāk- (“agreement, peace”) and Proto-Indo-European *peh2ḱ- (“agreement”).[4]

Earliest recorded meaning

It is first found in Seneca,[5][3] who calls a people the conqueror and pacifier of nations.[3][6]

Semantic evolution

The word named someone who brings peace by subduing others, and so a conqueror.[2][6] Poets applied it to heroes and generals: in Silius Italicus Scipio is the pacifier of the Iberian land,[3] and Claudian calls Stilicho the pacifier of the Rhine.[3][6] Tertullian used it figuratively of sleep, calling it the pacifier of labours.[3]

From the late 2nd century AD pacator orbis (“pacifier of the world”) was a title of emperors on inscriptions and coins.[3]

Timeline

  • 4 BC–65 AD – Seneca uses it of a people that subdued nations.[3][5]
  • 25–101 AD – Silius Italicus calls Scipio the pacifier of the Iberian land.[3][5]
  • c. 160–220 AD – Tertullian applies it to sleep.[3][5]
  • 192 AD – An inscription gives an emperor the title pacator orbis.[3]

Meanings

Noun

  1. One who imposes peace, a pacifier or subduer.[2][6]
  2. (on inscriptions and coins) In the title pacator orbis, pacifier of the world, of emperors.[3]

Word family

  • pācātōrius

Usage notes

Niermeyer also records a medieval pacator (also spelled paccator, pagator) meaning a surety or bail.[7]

References

  1. ^ a b c d Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
  2. ^ a b c Glare, P. G. W., ed. (2012), Oxford Latin Dictionary, 2nd ed., Oxford: Oxford University Press
  3. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l Thesaurus linguae Latinae (1900–), Leipzig: Teubner; Berlin: De Gruyter; open-access ed., Munich: Bayerische Akademie der Wissenschaften
  4. ^ 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
  5. ^ a b c d Köbler, Gerhard (2010), Lateinisches Abkunfts- und Wirkungswörterbuch für Altertum und Mittelalter, online ed., koeblergerhard.de
  6. ^ a b c d Lewis, Charlton T.; Short, Charles (1879), A Latin Dictionary, Oxford: Clarendon Press
  7. ^ Niermeyer, J. F. (1976), Mediae Latinitatis Lexicon Minus, Leiden: Brill