histrio Latin · revision 31573

+ {{infobox|confidence=probable|formation=borrowing|attested=c. 250–184 BC, Plautus|origins=ett}}

+

+ ==Pronunciation==

+ * Classical: [ˈhɪs.tri.oː]^(Wiktionary)

+ * Ecclesiastical: [ˈis.tri.o]^(Wiktionary)

+

+ ==Forms==

+ '''histriō''' ''m'' (genitive histriōnis); third declension^(Wiktionary)

+

+ ==Etymology==

+ It is [[bor|ett|hister|t=actor]], extended with the suffix [[m|la|-iō]]: Livy and Valerius Maximus report ⟨hister⟩ as the Etruscan word for an actor.^(OLD 2012)^(Lewis & Short 1879)^(Köbler 2010)^(Wiktionary) Wiktionary calls the further origin unknown.^(Wiktionary)

+

+ ==Earliest recorded meaning==

+ Köbler dates it from Plautus,^(Köbler 2010) whose prologues speak of actors and who mentions a word an actor said on stage.^(Lewis & Short 1879)

+

+ ==Semantic evolution==

+ It is a stage actor, tragic or comic: Cicero says no one would think a good comedian could come from the worst actor, and Pliny the Elder names Aesopus, an actor of tragedies.^(Lewis & Short 1879) Under the Empire it is above all a performer of pantomime, in Petronius, Tacitus and Juvenal, who says an actor will give what the nobles will not.^(OLD 2012)^(Lewis & Short 1879) Celsus uses it for a boaster: it is the actor's way to make much of a small thing.^(Lewis & Short 1879)

+

+ Church Latin has it for a stage player, actor.^(Stelten 1995) In Medieval Latin it is a jongleur or a court jester.^(Niermeyer 1976)

+

+ ==Timeline==

+ * c. 250–184 BC – Plautus of actors.^(Lewis & Short 1879)^(Köbler 2010)

+ * 81–43 BC – Cicero of a bad actor.^(Lewis & Short 1879)^(Köbler 2010)

+ * before 66 AD – Petronius of a pantomime.^(OLD 2012)^(Köbler 2010)

+ * c. 67–c. 127 AD – Juvenal of a rich actor.^(OLD 2012)^(Köbler 2010)

+

+ ==Meanings==

+ ===Noun===

+ # An [[m|en|actor]], stage player.^(OLD 2012)^(Lewis & Short 1879)^(Wiktionary)^(Stelten 1995)

+ # A performer of [[m|en|pantomime]].^(OLD 2012)

+ # ''(figurative)'' A boaster.^(Lewis & Short 1879)

+ # ''(Medieval Latin)'' A [[m|en|jongleur]]; a court [[m|en|jester]].^(Niermeyer 1976)

+

+ ==Word family==

+ * [[histriculus]]

+ * [[histriōnālis]]

+ * [[histriōnicus]]

+ * [[histriōnius]]

+

+ ==Related words==

+ * [[lūdius]]

+ * [[actor]]

+

+ ==Usage notes==

+ Döderlein says ''actor'', ''cōmoedus'' and ''tragoedus'' present the player as a respectable artist, ''lūdiō'' and ''lūdius'' as one who acts for a living, and ''histriō'' mostly carries a notion of buffoonery and boasting.^(Döderlein 1874)

+

+ ==References==

+ {{reflist}}