praedatorius

Forms

praedātōrius (feminine praedātōria, neuter praedātōrium); first/second-declension adjective^[1]

Etymology

It is from Latin praedor (“to plunder”) + -tōrius,^[2] and Wiktionary and the TLL derive it from praedātor (“plunderer”).^[1][3] Both go back to praeda (“booty”), which de Vaan explains as an old compound with the root of prehendō (“to seize”), reconstructing Proto-Italic *prai-χod-ā- (“booty”).^[4]

Earliest recorded meaning

It is first found in Plautus’ Menaechmi,^[3][5] where a ship called predatory is a joking image of a courtesan.^[3]

Semantic evolution

In Classical Latin it meant marauding, plundering or piratical.^[2] Sallust calls a band of soldiers sent to plunder a manus praedātōria,^[6][5] and Livy speaks of pirate ships and fleets.^[6][5] Tacitus has it too.^[6]

Medieval British Latin used it of what concerns plunder, and the phrase iūs praedātōrium for a right of seizure.^[7] English borrowed it in the 1580s as predatory, and in zoology from the 1660s.^[8]

Timeline

• c. 250–184 BC – Plautus jokes about a predatory ship.^[3][9]
• 86–34 BC – Sallust writes of a marauding band.^[6][9]
• 59 BC–17 AD – Livy writes of pirate ships.^[6][9]
• 1580s – English borrows it as predatory.^[8]

Meanings

Adjective

1. Marauding, plundering, piratical.^[2][6]
2. (Medieval Latin) Concerned with plunder;^[7] iūs praedātōrium, a right of seizure.^[7]

Related words

• praedator
• praeda
• English predatory

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 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 c Conte, Gian Biagio; Pianezzola, Emilio; Ranucci, Giuliano (2010), il Latino: Vocabolario della lingua latina, 3rd ed., Florence: Le Monnier
6. ^ a b c d e f Lewis, Charlton T.; Short, Charles (1879), A Latin Dictionary, Oxford: Clarendon Press
7. ^ 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
8. ^ a b Harper, Douglas. Online Etymology Dictionary, https://www.etymonline.com
9. ^ a b c Köbler, Gerhard (2010), Lateinisches Abkunfts- und Wirkungswörterbuch für Altertum und Mittelalter, online ed., koeblergerhard.de