propugnator

Forms

prōpugnātor m (genitive prōpugnātōris); third declension^[1]

Etymology

It is from Latin prōpugnō (“to fight in defence”) + -tor,^[2][1][3] from prō- and pugnō (“to fight”), from pugna (“fight”).^[1]

Earliest recorded meaning

Köbler's first source is Cicero,^[4] whose speeches against Verres speak of a fleet left weak by the discharge of its marines and rowers.^[2][5]

Semantic evolution

It is one who fights to defend a place or person, a defender, especially a marine or soldier, and more generally a protector or champion, as in Nepos' “with their single champion removed”.^[2][5] Church Latin glosses it “defender”.^[6]

Timeline

• 81–43 BC – Cicero of a fleet's fighting men.^[2][4]
• c. 100–24 BC – Nepos of a champion.^[2][4]

Meanings

Noun

1. A defender, a soldier or marine fighting in defence.^[2][5][1]
2. A protector, champion.^[2][1]

Related words

• prōpugnō
• pugna

References

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