percussor Latin · revision 31882

+ {{infobox|confidence=established|formation=derivation|attested=81–43 BC, Cicero|origins=la quatiō}}

+

+ ==Pronunciation==

+ * Classical: [pɛrˈkʊs.sɔr]^(Wiktionary)

+ * Ecclesiastical: [perˈkus.sor]^(Wiktionary)

+

+ ==Forms==

+ '''percussor''' ''m'' (genitive percussōris); third declension^(Wiktionary)

+

+ ==Etymology==

+ It is [[af|la|percutiō|-tor|t1=to strike through, kill]].^(OLD 2012)^(Wiktionary) The verb is formed from [[m|la|per-]] and [[m|la|quatiō|t=to shake]],^(de Vaan 2008) which de Vaan traces to [[itc-pro|*kʷat-i-]]; its further origin is unclear, and he thinks it may be non-Indo-European.^(de Vaan 2008)

+

+ ==Earliest recorded meaning==

+ Köbler's first source is Cicero,^(Köbler 2010) who uses it of an assassin.^(Lewis & Short 1879)

+

+ ==Semantic evolution==

+ Its usual sense is a person hired to kill, an assassin, as in Cicero, Tacitus and Suetonius' assassin set on someone, and Petronius' nocturnal cut-throat.^(OLD 2012)^(Lewis & Short 1879) In a general sense, a striker, it is post-Augustan, as Pliny the Elder's wounded lion that recognises the man who struck it.^(Lewis & Short 1879) Church Latin glosses it “striker, assassin, executioner, bandit”.^(Stelten 1995)

+

+ ==Timeline==

+ * 81–43 BC – Cicero of an assassin.^(Lewis & Short 1879)^(Köbler 2010)

+ * 23/24–79 AD – Pliny the Elder of a lion's attacker.^(Lewis & Short 1879)^(Köbler 2010)

+ * 98–115 AD – Tacitus of assassins.^(Lewis & Short 1879)^(Köbler 2010)

+ * c. 75–c. 150 AD – Suetonius of a hired assassin.^(Lewis & Short 1879)^(Köbler 2010)

+

+ ==Meanings==

+ ===Noun===

+ # An [[m|en|assassin]], murderer; an [[m|en|executioner]].^(OLD 2012)^(Lewis & Short 1879)^(Stelten 1995)^(Wiktionary)

+ # A striker, stabber.^(Lewis & Short 1879)^(Stelten 1995)^(Wiktionary)

+

+ ==Related words==

+ * [[percussibilis]]

+ * [[percussiō]]

+ * [[percussiōnālis]]

+ * [[percussūra]]

+ * [[percussus]]

+ * [[percutiō]]

+ * [[quatio|alt=quatiō]]

+

+ ==Usage notes==

+ Döderlein says that ''percussor'' and [[sicarius|alt=sīcārius]] are both instruments of another's will: the ''percussor'' carries out a public sentence, like a headsman, while the ''sīcārius'' hires out his hand for a secret murder, like a bandit.^(Döderlein 1874)

+

+ ==References==

+ {{reflist}}