Etymologically
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praedor

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Pronunciation

  • Classical: [ˈprae̯.dɔr][1]
  • Ecclesiastical: [ˈprɛː.dor][1]

Forms

praedor (present infinitive praedārī, perfect active praedātus sum); first conjugation, deponent[1]

Etymology

It is formed from praeda (“booty”).[2][3] De Vaan lists it with prehendō (“to seize”): ⟨praeda⟩ is usually explained as ⟨*prai-χed-ā-⟩ “what one acquires”, but he follows Livingston's Proto-Italic *prai-χod-ā- (“booty”), with an o-grade noun from Proto-Indo-European *ghod-h2- (“to grab”); cognate with Ancient Greek χανδάνω (khandánō, “to grasp, hold”) and Albanian gjen (“finds”).[3][1]

Earliest recorded meaning

De Vaan dates it from Plautus,[3] whose Rudens has “the gods look after men: I shall go off from here well enriched”.[2] Cato has a general sending light troops out to plunder.[2]

Semantic evolution

It means “to plunder, make booty”, in war and by robbery, and to gain wealth by depredation.[2][4] Later poets use it transitively, “to take as plunder” and “to despoil”, as Valerius Flaccus' Harpies stealing food from a man's mouth.[2] Of animals it is to prey or hunt, as Virgil's wolves bidden to prey, and Propertius uses it of catching fish with a rod.[2]

Church Latin glosses it “rob, plunder, despoil”.[5]

Timeline

  • c. 250–184 BC – Plautus of going off enriched.[2][3][6]
  • 234–149 BC – Cato of troops sent to plunder.[2][6]
  • 70–19 BC – Virgil of wolves preying.[2][6]
  • 57/46–12 BC – Propertius of catching fish.[2][6]

Meanings

Verb

  1. To plunder, make booty; to grow rich by depredation.[2][4][1][5]
  2. To take as plunder; to despoil, pillage.[2][1]
  3. Of animals, to hunt, prey.[2]
  4. To catch as prey.[2]

Word family

  • dēpraedor
  • praedābundus
  • praedātīcius
  • praedātiō
  • praedātor
  • praedātrix
  • praedātum
  • praedātus
  • praedō

References

  1. ^ a b c d e f Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
  2. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m n Glare, P. G. W., ed. (2012), Oxford Latin Dictionary, 2nd ed., Oxford: Oxford University Press
  3. ^ a b c d de Vaan, Michiel (2008), Etymological Dictionary of Latin and the other Italic Languages, Leiden Indo-European Etymological Dictionary Series 7, Leiden; Boston: Brill
  4. ^ a b Lewis, Charlton T.; Short, Charles (1879), A Latin Dictionary, Oxford: Clarendon Press
  5. ^ a b Stelten, Leo F. (1995), Dictionary of Ecclesiastical Latin, Peabody, Mass.: Hendrickson
  6. ^ a b c d Köbler, Gerhard (2010), Lateinisches Abkunfts- und Wirkungswörterbuch für Altertum und Mittelalter, online ed., koeblergerhard.de