spectator Latin · revision 31475

+ {{infobox|confidence=established|formation=derivation|attested=c. 250–184 BC, Plautus|origins=ine-pro *speḱ-}}

+

+ ==Pronunciation==

+ * Classical: [spɛkˈtaː.tɔr]^(Wiktionary)

+ * Ecclesiastical: [spekˈtaː.tor]^(Wiktionary)

+

+ ==Forms==

+ '''spectātor''' ''m'' (genitive spectātōris); third declension^(Wiktionary)

+

+ ==Etymology==

+ It is [[af|la|spectō|-tor]], an agent noun from the verb “to watch”,^(OLD 2012)^(Wiktionary) which is formed from [[speciō|t=to look at]]; it is a doublet of [[speculātor]].^(Wiktionary) De Vaan traces ⟨speciō⟩ to [[itc-pro|*spekje/o-]] and [[ine-pro|*speḱ-ie/o-|t=to look]], cognate with [[sa|पश्यति|tr=páśyati|t=sees]], [[grc|σκέπτομαι|tr=sképtomai|t=to look around]] and [[goh|spehōn|t=to spy]].^(de Vaan 2008)

+

+ ==Earliest recorded meaning==

+ De Vaan and Köbler date it from Plautus,^(de Vaan 2008)^(Köbler 2010) whose ''Captivi'' ends by telling the spectators that the play was made for decent manners.^(OLD 2012)

+

+ ==Semantic evolution==

+ It is a person who watches or observes, a witness, as Virgil's “I would wish his father were here to watch”, and a spectator at a play or show, or a sightseer.^(OLD 2012)^(Lewis & Short 1879) Cicero calls people spectators of the things above and in the sky.^(Lewis & Short 1879) It is also a critical observer or examiner, as Pliny the Younger's emperor who does not hang over his guests watching and noting.^(OLD 2012)^(Wiktionary) The feminine is ''spectātrīx''.^(Stelten 1995)

+

+ In British Medieval Latin it is an onlooker or witness, as of a martyrdom.^(DMLBS) English ''spectator'' is from it, first in the 1580s.^(Etymonline)

+

+ ==Timeline==

+ * c. 250–184 BC – Plautus addresses the spectators of a play.^(OLD 2012)^(Köbler 2010)

+ * 81–43 BC – Cicero of people watching the heavens.^(Lewis & Short 1879)^(Köbler 2010)

+ * 70–19 BC – Virgil of a father watching his son.^(OLD 2012)^(Köbler 2010)

+ * 1580s – Borrowed into English as [[m|en|spectator]].^(Etymonline)

+

+ ==Meanings==

+ ===Noun===

+ # A person who watches, observer, [[m|en|witness]].^(OLD 2012)^(Lewis & Short 1879)^(Wiktionary)^(Stelten 1995)

+ # A [[m|en|spectator]] at a play or show; a sightseer.^(OLD 2012)

+ # A critical observer, examiner, judge.^(OLD 2012)^(Wiktionary)

+

+ ==Related words==

+ * [[speciō]]

+ * [[spectō]]

+ * [[spectāculum]]

+ * [[speculātor]]

+

+ ==References==

+ {{reflist}}