rector

Forms

rēctor m (genitive rēctōris, feminine rēctrīx); third declension^[1]

Etymology

It is formed from Latin regō (“to guide, rule”) + -tor.^[2][1][3] De Vaan traces ⟨regō⟩ to Proto-Italic *rege/o- and Proto-Indo-European *h₃reǵ-e/o- (“to stretch, direct”), and compares Old Irish a·t·raig (“stands up”) and Sanskrit ऋञ्जति (ṛñjati, “to stretch, direct oneself”); the long ⟨ē⟩ of the participle ⟨rēctus⟩, on which the noun is built, is due to Lachmann's law.^[4][3]

Earliest recorded meaning

De Vaan and Köbler give Cicero as its first author.^[4][5] In On Divination he speaks of “so many helmsmen of ships” (tot nāvium rēctōrēs).^[2]

Semantic evolution

It is the helmsman of a ship, then the rider or driver of animals (Sallust) and a guide for the blind.^[2][6] More widely it is a person in charge of others or of a field of activity, the ruler or director of a state, as Cicero's leader of the commonwealth, the supreme god as ruler of all, a commander in war (Livy), and a tutor or guide of the young, as the leaders Aeneas sets over the young men in Virgil.^[2][6]

In medieval Latin a rēctor was a duke ruling a province, the mayor of the palace, a royal official, a bishop or abbot in charge of a church, the priest in charge of a lesser church, or the steward of church estates.^[7] English took it over as rector in the late 14th century, first for a ruler, and by the early 15th century for the head of a college or religious community.^[3]

Timeline

• 81–43 BC – Cicero of helmsmen and of the ruler of the state.^[2][5]
• 86–34 BC – Sallust of riders.^[2][5]
• 70–19 BC – Virgil of tutors.^[2][5]
• 59 BC–17 AD – Livy of a commander.^[2][5]
• late 14th century – English rector, a ruler.^[3]

Meanings

Noun

1. A helmsman.^[2][6]
2. A rider or driver (of animals); a guide.^[2][1]
3. A person in charge, a director, manager.^[2][1]
4. A ruler, governor (of a state); the supreme god; a military commander.^[2][1][8]
5. A tutor, guide (of the young).^[2][1]
6. (Medieval Latin) A duke; a royal official; the mayor of the palace.^[7]
7. (Medieval Latin) A bishop or abbot; a priest in charge of a church; a steward of church estates.^[7]

Related words

• regō
• rēx
• gubernātor
• English rector

References

1. ^ a b c d e f g h Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
2. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m Glare, P. G. W., ed. (2012), Oxford Latin Dictionary, 2nd ed., Oxford: Oxford University Press
3. ^ a b c d Harper, Douglas. Online Etymology Dictionary, https://www.etymonline.com
4. ^ a b de Vaan, Michiel (2008), Etymological Dictionary of Latin and the other Italic Languages, Leiden Indo-European Etymological Dictionary Series 7, Leiden; Boston: Brill
5. ^ a b c d e Köbler, Gerhard (2010), Lateinisches Abkunfts- und Wirkungswörterbuch für Altertum und Mittelalter, online ed., koeblergerhard.de
6. ^ a b c Lewis, Charlton T.; Short, Charles (1879), A Latin Dictionary, Oxford: Clarendon Press
7. ^ a b c Niermeyer, J. F. (1976), Mediae Latinitatis Lexicon Minus, Leiden: Brill
8. ^ Stelten, Leo F. (1995), Dictionary of Ecclesiastical Latin, Peabody, Mass.: Hendrickson