contemptor Latin · revision 32452

+ {{infobox|confidence=established|formation=derivation|attested=86–34 BC, Sallust|origins=la contemnō}}

+

+ ==Forms==

+ '''contemptor''' ''m'' (genitive contemptōris); third declension^(Wiktionary)

+

+ ==Etymology==

+ It is [[af|la|contemnō|-tor|t1=to despise]].^(OLD 2012)^(Wiktionary)^(TLL) De Vaan regards [[m|la|contemnō]] as older than the simple [[m|la|temnō]], which was back-formed from it.^(de Vaan 2008) Its further origin is disputed: he weighs [[ine-pro|*stemb-|t=to shake, pound]] against [[ine-pro|*temh₁-|t=to cut]], comparing [[grc|τέμνω|tr=témnō|t=to cut]] for the second.^(de Vaan 2008)

+

+ ==Earliest recorded meaning==

+ The TLL records the masculine from Sallust on; the feminine [[contemptrix|alt=contemptrīx]] is already in Plautus.^(TLL)^(de Vaan 2008)

+

+ ==Semantic evolution==

+ It is a person who looks down on others: Livy says that someone was not at all held to despise the plebs.^(OLD 2012) It is also one who pays no heed to something, as Virgil's contemptor dīvum Mezentius, who scorns the gods.^(OLD 2012)^(Lewis & Short 1879) Lewis & Short find it frequent after the Augustan period but not in Cicero or Horace, and note the spelling ⟨contemt-⟩.^(Lewis & Short 1879) In Medieval Latin it is a recusant or rebel.^(Niermeyer 1976)

+

+ ==Timeline==

+ * 86–34 BC – Sallust uses it.^(TLL)^(Köbler 2010)

+ * 70–19 BC – Virgil of Mezentius, scorner of the gods.^(OLD 2012)^(Köbler 2010)

+ * 59 BC–17 AD – Livy of one who despises the plebs.^(OLD 2012)^(Köbler 2010)

+ * Middle Ages – a rebel.^(Niermeyer 1976)

+

+ ==Meanings==

+ ===Noun===

+ # One who looks down on others, a [[m|en|despiser]].^(OLD 2012)^(Lewis & Short 1879)^(Stelten 1995)^(Wiktionary)

+ # One who pays no heed to something, a [[m|en|scorner]], contemner.^(OLD 2012)^(Lewis & Short 1879)^(Wiktionary)

+ # ''(Medieval Latin)'' A recusant, [[m|en|rebel]].^(Niermeyer 1976)

+

+ ==Related words==

+ * [[contemno|alt=contemnō]]

+ * [[contemptus]]

+

+ ==References==

+ {{reflist}}