prosecutor

Forms

prōsecūtor m (genitive prōsecūtōris); third declension^[1][2]

Etymology

It is from Latin prōsequor (“to accompany, escort”) + -tor, an agent noun.^[1][3][4]

Earliest recorded meaning

The OLD defines it as one who escorts, in its quotations in an official legal capacity.^[1] The TLL's earliest example is an imperial edict on papyrus, which it dates to the age of the Severi: accusers or defendants are to appear with their escorts.^[3] The jurist Macer writes that provincial governors ask their colleagues to send offenders back to them with escorts.^[3]

Semantic evolution

In Late Latin the prosecutores escorted gold, grain, taxes and horses for the state, as the Theodosian Code, Symmachus and Cassiodorus show,^[3][4] and Sidonius uses it for companions in general.^[2][5] Manuscripts often confuse it with persecūtor.^[3]

In early medieval formulae it is the person who asks that a deed be entered in the municipal records; it later meant an attorney and a plaintiff.^[6][7] British sources use it for an escort or supporter, for a herald's pursuivant, and for one who pursues a course of action.^[8] English took it in the 1590s for one who pursues a purpose; its sense in court dates from the 1620s.^[9]

Timeline

• Severan period – An imperial edict on papyrus uses it for the escorts of accusers and defendants.^[3]
• 438 AD – The Theodosian Code uses it for the escorts of gold and other goods.^[3][10]
• c. 431–486 AD – Sidonius speaks of a crowd of companions, caterva prosecutorum.^[2][10]
• 6th–7th century – The formulae of Angers use it for the person who has a deed registered.^[10][6]
• 1426 – A patent roll uses it for the king's pursuivants.^[8]
• 1590s – English borrows it as prosecutor.^[9]

Meanings

Noun

1. An escort: one who officially conducts prisoners or goods.^[1][3][4]
2. (Late Latin) A companion, attendant.^[2][5]
3. (Medieval Latin) One who asks that a deed be entered in the municipal records.^[6][7]
4. (Medieval Latin) An attorney, agent.^[6][7]
5. (Medieval Latin, law) A plaintiff, claimant.^[6][11]
6. (Medieval Latin, heraldry) A pursuivant.^[8]
7. (Medieval Latin) One who carries something out or pursues a course of action.^[8][11]
8. (New Latin) An admirer.^[12]

Related words

• persecūtor
• English prosecutor

References

1. ^ a b c d Glare, P. G. W., ed. (2012), Oxford Latin Dictionary, 2nd ed., Oxford: Oxford University Press
2. ^ a b c d Lewis, Charlton T.; Short, Charles (1879), A Latin Dictionary, Oxford: Clarendon Press
3. ^ a b c d e f g h Thesaurus linguae Latinae (1900–), Leipzig: Teubner; Berlin: De Gruyter; open-access ed., Munich: Bayerische Akademie der Wissenschaften
4. ^ a b c Georges, Karl Ernst (1913–1918), Ausführliches lateinisch-deutsches Handwörterbuch, 8th ed., ed. Heinrich Georges, Hannover; Leipzig: Hahn
5. ^ a b Gaffiot, Félix (2016), Dictionnaire latin-français, new ed. by Gérard Gréco et al. (Gaffiot 2016), online ed.
6. ^ a b c d e Niermeyer, J. F. (1976), Mediae Latinitatis Lexicon Minus, Leiden: Brill
7. ^ a b c du Cange, Charles du Fresne, et al. (1883–1887), Glossarium mediae et infimae latinitatis, augmented ed. by Léopold Favre, Niort: L. Favre
8. ^ a b c d 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
9. ^ a b Harper, Douglas. Online Etymology Dictionary, https://www.etymonline.com
10. ^ a b c Köbler, Gerhard (2010), Lateinisches Abkunfts- und Wirkungswörterbuch für Altertum und Mittelalter, online ed., koeblergerhard.de
11. ^ a b Lexicon mediae et infimae Latinitatis Polonorum (1953–), Kraków: Instytut Języka Polskiego PAN; electronic ed. elexicon.scriptores.pl
12. ^ Ramminger, Johann, Neulateinische Wortliste: Ein Wörterbuch des Lateinischen von Petrarca bis 1700, www.neulatein.de