Etymologically
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rector

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Pronunciation

  • Classical: [ˈreːk.tɔr][1]
  • Ecclesiastical: [ˈrɛk.tor][1]

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]

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