saltator

Forms

saltātor m (genitive saltātōris, feminine saltātrīx); third declension^[1]

Etymology

It is from Latin saltō (“to dance”) + -tor.^[2][1] The verb saltō is the frequentative of saliō¹ (“to jump, leap”),^[3][1] which de Vaan traces to Proto-Italic *sal-je- (“to jump”); he regards the form of the root as uncertain.^[3] Cognate with Ancient Greek ἅλλομαι (hállomai, “to jump”) and Old Irish saltraid (“to trample”).^[3]

Earliest recorded meaning

Köbler records it first in Cicero,^[4] who uses it in the speeches for Murena and for Deiotarus and in De officiis.^[5][6]

Semantic evolution

It means a dancer, and among the Romans, for whom dancing was thought unseemly, it usually carries contempt.^[5][7] Cicero uses it in his speeches and in De officiis and De finibus,^[5][6] Quintilian uses it of a mime,^[6] and Suetonius and Macrobius use it too.^[5] Medieval writers in Britain used it for dancers, acrobats and tumblers, often together with actors and mimes,^[8] and it survives in Italian saltatore.^[6]

Timeline

• 81–43 BC – Cicero uses it in his speeches and in De officiis.^[5][4]
• c. 35–95/96 AD – Quintilian uses it of a mime.^[6][5][4]
• c. 75–c. 150 AD – Suetonius uses it in the lives of Caligula and Nero.^[5][4]
• Medieval Latin – Alcuin quotes a warning against bringing actors, mimes and dancers into the house.^[8]

Meanings

Noun

1. A dancer, usually with contempt.^[2][5][7]
2. A mime.^[6]
3. (Medieval Latin) A dancer, acrobat, tumbler.^[8]

Related words

• saltō
• saltātiō
• saliō¹

References

1. ^ a b c Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
2. ^ a b Glare, P. G. W., ed. (2012), Oxford Latin Dictionary, 2nd ed., Oxford: Oxford University Press
3. ^ a b c de Vaan, Michiel (2008), Etymological Dictionary of Latin and the other Italic Languages, Leiden Indo-European Etymological Dictionary Series 7, Leiden; Boston: Brill
4. ^ a b c d Köbler, Gerhard (2010), Lateinisches Abkunfts- und Wirkungswörterbuch für Altertum und Mittelalter, online ed., koeblergerhard.de
5. ^ a b c d e f g h Lewis, Charlton T.; Short, Charles (1879), A Latin Dictionary, Oxford: Clarendon Press
6. ^ a b c d e f Conte, Gian Biagio; Pianezzola, Emilio; Ranucci, Giuliano (2010), il Latino: Vocabolario della lingua latina, 3rd ed., Florence: Le Monnier
7. ^ a b Georges, Karl Ernst (1913–1918), Ausführliches lateinisch-deutsches Handwörterbuch, 8th ed., ed. Heinrich Georges, Hannover; Leipzig: Hahn
8. ^ a b c 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