sculptor

Forms

sculptor m (genitive sculptōris); third declension^[1]

Etymology

It is formed from Latin sculpō (“to carve”) + -tor.^[2][1] The OLD compares scalptor, with which it is often confused in the manuscripts.^[2][3][4]

Earliest recorded meaning

The OLD's only citation is an inscription naming a gemmarius sculptor, an engraver of gems.^[2] Lewis & Short cite it from Pliny the Elder, where Jahn's edition reads scalptor throughout.^[3]

Semantic evolution

The word names a person who carves or engraves stone, wood or gems.^[2][3] Firmicus Maternus speaks of simulacrorum sculptores, makers of statues, and Cassiodorus of a sculptor marmorum, a carver of marble.^[4] The Vulgate has opere sculptoris in Exodus.^[3][4] In medieval British sources it means a carver or engraver and also a stone-cutter who dresses stone.^[5] It passed into Italian as scultore^[6] and into English in the 1630s.^[7]

Timeline

• 23/24–79 AD – Pliny the Elder uses it, in the text of some editions.^[3][8]
• 343/350 AD – Firmicus Maternus speaks of simulacrorum sculptores.^[4][8]
• 390–406 AD – The Vulgate has opere sculptoris in Exodus.^[3][4][8]
• c. 485–c. 580 AD – Cassiodorus writes of a carver of marble.^[4][3][8]
• c. 560–636 AD – Isidore of Seville names gemmarum sculptores, gem engravers.^[4][8]
• 1630s – English borrows it as sculptor.^[7]

Meanings

Noun

1. A person who carves or engraves; a sculptor, engraver.^[2][3][4]
2. (Medieval Latin) A stone-cutter who hews or dresses stone.^[5]

Usage notes

Editors often print scalptor in its place, and the two words are frequently confused.^[3][4][9]

References

1. ^ a b c d Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
2. ^ a b c d e Glare, P. G. W., ed. (2012), Oxford Latin Dictionary, 2nd ed., Oxford: Oxford University Press
3. ^ a b c d e f g h i Lewis, Charlton T.; Short, Charles (1879), A Latin Dictionary, Oxford: Clarendon Press
4. ^ a b c d e f g h i Georges, Karl Ernst (1913–1918), Ausführliches lateinisch-deutsches Handwörterbuch, 8th ed., ed. Heinrich Georges, Hannover; Leipzig: Hahn
5. ^ a b 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
6. ^ Conte, Gian Biagio; Pianezzola, Emilio; Ranucci, Giuliano (2010), il Latino: Vocabolario della lingua latina, 3rd ed., Florence: Le Monnier
7. ^ a b Harper, Douglas. Online Etymology Dictionary, https://www.etymonline.com
8. ^ a b c d e Köbler, Gerhard (2010), Lateinisches Abkunfts- und Wirkungswörterbuch für Altertum und Mittelalter, online ed., koeblergerhard.de
9. ^ Gaffiot, Félix (2016), Dictionnaire latin-français, new ed. by Gérard Gréco et al. (Gaffiot 2016), online ed.