Etymologically
Log in

perditor

This is the current revision of this entry, as edited by bogdan on 20 October 2026 at 21:18. This address is a permanent link to this version.
Changes in this edit History

Pronunciation

  • Classical: [ˈpɛr.dɪ.tɔr][1]
  • Ecclesiastical: [ˈpɛr.di.tor][1]

Forms

perditor m (genitive perditōris); third declension[1]

Etymology

It is from Latin perdō (“to destroy, lose”) + -tor, an agent noun.[2][3] De Vaan lists that verb (from Naevius on) among the Latin compounds in ⟨-dō⟩ that may continue Proto-Indo-European *dʰeh₁- (“to put”) rather than *deh₃- (“to give”), noting that the two roots cannot always be told apart in compounds.[4]

Earliest recorded meaning

Its first known use is in Cicero, who calls an opponent a destroyer and harasser of the state, as against a preserver and guardian of it.[3][5][6]

Semantic evolution

Cicero uses it several times in his speeches: in the Pro Plancio and the In Vatinium of a destroyer of the state, and in the In Pisonem of the destroyer of the dignity and very name of the senatorial order.[7][3] After him the TLL finds it from Tertullian on, mostly in Church writers.[3] Cyprian calls Novatian a corrupter of truth and destroyer of charity,[3] Lactantius calls evil spirits destroyers of men,[7][5] and Hilary uses it of God, who destroys body and soul in the fire of judgement.[3]

Medieval Latin used it for one who dooms others to perdition and for a loser.[8] In British sources it is also the Devil as destroyer of souls, and one who has lost something.[9]

Timeline

  • 81–43 BC – Cicero uses it of a destroyer of the state.[7][3][6]
  • beginning of 3rd century–258 AD – Cyprian calls Novatian a destroyer of charity.[3][6]
  • c. 250–317 AD – Lactantius calls evil spirits destroyers of men.[7][6]
  • c. 315–367/368 AD – Hilary uses it of God as the destroyer of body and soul.[3][6]

Meanings

Noun

  1. One who ruins or destroys, a destroyer.[2][7]
  2. (Ecclesiastical Latin) One who dooms to perdition; the Devil as destroyer of souls.[8][9]
  3. (Medieval Latin) One who loses, a loser.[8][9]

References

  1. ^ a b c Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
  2. ^ a b 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 Thesaurus linguae Latinae (1900–), Leipzig: Teubner; Berlin: De Gruyter; open-access ed., Munich: Bayerische Akademie der Wissenschaften
  4. ^ 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 Georges, Karl Ernst (1913–1918), Ausführliches lateinisch-deutsches Handwörterbuch, 8th ed., ed. Heinrich Georges, Hannover; Leipzig: Hahn
  6. ^ a b c d e Köbler, Gerhard (2010), Lateinisches Abkunfts- und Wirkungswörterbuch für Altertum und Mittelalter, online ed., koeblergerhard.de
  7. ^ a b c d e Lewis, Charlton T.; Short, Charles (1879), A Latin Dictionary, Oxford: Clarendon Press
  8. ^ a b c Niermeyer, J. F. (1976), Mediae Latinitatis Lexicon Minus, Leiden: Brill
  9. ^ a b c 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