ventilator

Forms

ventilātor m (genitive ventilātōris); third declension^[1]

Etymology

It is formed from Latin ventilō (“to expose to a draught, winnow”) + -tor.^[2][1]

Earliest recorded meaning

Columella uses it of the winnower: the beans, he says, will arrive clean where the ventilātor throws them.^[2][3]

Semantic evolution

From the tossing of grain into the air, Quintilian uses it of a kind of juggler, whose thrown objects seem to come back into his hands of their own accord.^[2][3][4] Augustine uses it figuratively of one who separates the good from the bad, as does the Vulgate in Jeremiah;^[5][4] Prudentius calls someone a disturber (ventilātor) of the city,^[5][4] and Georges also records it for one who urges on charioteers.^[5]

British Medieval Latin kept the winnower, also figuratively, and used it for one who tosses something in the air and for one who airs or debates a matter.^[6] English ventilator (1743) is a new agent noun from ventilate, not the Latin word for a winnower.^[7]

Timeline

• 1st century AD – Columella uses it for a winnower.^[2][8]
• c. 35–95/96 AD – Quintilian uses it for a kind of juggler.^[2][8]
• 348/49–c. 413 AD – Prudentius uses it for a disturber of a city.^[5][8]
• 354–430 AD – Augustine uses it figuratively of one who separates the good from the bad.^[5][8]

Meanings

Noun

1. A winnower.^[2][3]
2. A kind of juggler.^[2][3]
3. (Late Latin, figurative) One who separates the good from the bad.^[5][4]
4. (Late Latin) A disturber.^[5][4]
5. (Medieval Latin) One who airs or debates a matter.^[6]

References

1. ^ a b c d Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
2. ^ a b c d e f g Glare, P. G. W., ed. (2012), Oxford Latin Dictionary, 2nd ed., Oxford: Oxford University Press
3. ^ a b c d Lewis, Charlton T.; Short, Charles (1879), A Latin Dictionary, Oxford: Clarendon Press
4. ^ a b c d e Conte, Gian Biagio; Pianezzola, Emilio; Ranucci, Giuliano (2010), il Latino: Vocabolario della lingua latina, 3rd ed., Florence: Le Monnier
5. ^ a b c d e f g Georges, Karl Ernst (1913–1918), Ausführliches lateinisch-deutsches Handwörterbuch, 8th ed., ed. Heinrich Georges, Hannover; Leipzig: Hahn
6. ^ 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
7. ^ 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