praedicator

Forms

praedicātor m (genitive praedicātōris, feminine praedicātrīx); third declension^[1]

Etymology

It is formed from Latin praedicō¹ + -tor, an agent noun from the verb meaning “to proclaim, praise”.^[2][1]

Earliest recorded meaning

It is first found in Cicero,^[3] in the Pro Balbo, of a person who speaks in praise of a service done to him.^[4][2]

Semantic evolution

The TLL notes that pagan writers use it seldom (three times in Cicero, once each in Plancus, Pliny the Younger and Apuleius, three times in Fronto), but Christian writers often, from Tertullian on.^[5] In Classical Latin it is one who makes a thing known, especially to commend it, and in Apuleius a crier or announcer.^[2][4]

Among Christians it became the preacher.^[5][6][7] In Medieval Latin it also meant a missionary and a friar preacher, a “black friar”;^[8] British records speak of the fratres praedicatores by 1358.^[9] It is continued as Italian predicatore, French prêcheur and Spanish and Portuguese predicador.^[5]

Timeline

• 81–43 BC – Cicero uses it of one who praises a deed.^[2][4][3]
• c. 125–175 AD – Apuleius calls Mercury a crier.^[2][3]
• c. 160–220 AD – Tertullian uses it of a preacher.^[5][6][3]
• 1358 – A Durham record mentions the fratres praedicatores.^[9]

Meanings

Noun

1. One who makes a thing known, especially to praise it; a eulogist.^[2][4]
2. A crier, announcer.^[2][4]
3. (Ecclesiastical Latin) A preacher.^[5][7][8]
4. (Medieval Latin) A missionary.^[8]
5. (Medieval Latin) A friar preacher, a black friar.^[8][9]

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. ^ a b c d Köbler, Gerhard (2010), Lateinisches Abkunfts- und Wirkungswörterbuch für Altertum und Mittelalter, online ed., koeblergerhard.de
4. ^ a b c d e Lewis, Charlton T.; Short, Charles (1879), A Latin Dictionary, Oxford: Clarendon Press
5. ^ a b c d e Thesaurus linguae Latinae (1900–), Leipzig: Teubner; Berlin: De Gruyter; open-access ed., Munich: Bayerische Akademie der Wissenschaften
6. ^ a b VoLat: Vocabolario della Lingua Latina (2018), Milan: Hoepli
7. ^ a b Stelten, Leo F. (1995), Dictionary of Ecclesiastical Latin, Peabody, Mass.: Hendrickson
8. ^ a b c d 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