Etymologically
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speculator

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Pronunciation

  • Classical: [spɛ.kʊˈɫaː.tɔr][1]
  • Ecclesiastical: [spe.kuˈlaː.tor][1]

Forms

speculātor m (genitive speculātōris, feminine speculātrīx); third declension[1] Inscriptions write specl-.[2] It is also written spicul-.[3][4]

Etymology

It is from Latin speculor (“to watch, spy out”) + -tor.[2][1] The verb comes from specula (“lookout post”) and ultimately speciō (“to look”), which de Vaan traces to Proto-Italic *spekje/o- and Proto-Indo-European *speḱ-ie/o- (“to look”), cognate with Sanskrit स्पश् (spáś-, “spy”) and Ancient Greek σκέπτομαι (sképtomai, “to look about”).[5][1]

Earliest recorded meaning

De Vaan dates it from Varro,[5] who defines it as the man we send ahead to look out for what we want to know.[2][3]

Semantic evolution

It is a military word for a scout or spy, and outside the army anyone who spies on others: Cicero says his honesty rejects a guard and his care fears no spy.[2] It is also a lookout or watcher, as when Cicero calls the eyes the scouts that hold the highest place.[2] Under the Empire the speculātōrēs were soldiers ranking close to the centurions, also employed to carry out executions;[2][1] Seneca tells of a man who met them and offered his neck.[2][1]

Church Latin glosses it “eyewitness, spy, scout, explorer, watchman”.[6] In Medieval Latin it was an estate manager, and also a bishop.[4] English speculator (1550s) first meant one who speculates in thought; the financial sense is from 1778.[7]

Timeline

  • 116–27 BC – Varro of a scout sent ahead.[2][8]
  • 81–43 BC – Cicero of a spy and of the eyes as watchers.[2][8]
  • 4 BC–65 AD – Seneca of the imperial speculātōrēs.[2][8]
  • 1st century AD – inscriptions.[8]
  • Medieval Latin – estate manager; bishop.[4]
  • 1550s – English speculator.[7]

Meanings

Noun

  1. A scout or spy; one who spies on others; a lookout, watcher.[2][3][1][6]
  2. Under the Empire, a soldier of a guard unit ranking near the centurions, also used for executions.[2][1]
  3. An explorer, investigator.[1][6]
  4. (Medieval Latin) An estate manager; a bishop.[4]

Usage notes

Döderlein distinguishes explōrātōrēs, scouts officially sent to survey the country or the enemy, from speculātōrēs, spies sent secretly to observe the enemy's state and plans.[9]

References

  1. ^ a b c d e f g h i j Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
  2. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l Glare, P. G. W., ed. (2012), Oxford Latin Dictionary, 2nd ed., Oxford: Oxford University Press
  3. ^ a b c Lewis, Charlton T.; Short, Charles (1879), A Latin Dictionary, Oxford: Clarendon Press
  4. ^ a b c d Niermeyer, J. F. (1976), Mediae Latinitatis Lexicon Minus, Leiden: Brill
  5. ^ 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
  6. ^ a b c Stelten, Leo F. (1995), Dictionary of Ecclesiastical Latin, Peabody, Mass.: Hendrickson
  7. ^ a b Harper, Douglas. Online Etymology Dictionary, https://www.etymonline.com
  8. ^ a b c d Köbler, Gerhard (2010), Lateinisches Abkunfts- und Wirkungswörterbuch für Altertum und Mittelalter, online ed., koeblergerhard.de
  9. ^ Döderlein, Ludwig (1874), Döderlein’s Hand-book of Latin Synonymes, tr. H. H. Arnold, Andover: W. F. Draper