Etymologically
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propugnator

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Pronunciation

  • Classical: [proː.pʊŋˈnaː.tɔr][1]
  • Ecclesiastical: [pro.puɲˈɲaː.tor][1]

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]

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