subscriptor Latin · revision 33483

+ {{infobox|confidence=established|formation=derivation|attested=81–43 BC, Cicero|origins=ine-pro *skreibh-e/o-}}

+

+ ==Forms==

+ '''subscrīptor''' ''m'' (genitive subscrīptōris, feminine subscrīptrīx); third declension^(Wiktionary)

+

+ ==Etymology==

+ It is [[af|la|subscrībō|-tor|t1=to write underneath, sign]],^(OLD 2012)^(Lewis & Short 1879) that is ⟨sub-⟩ and [[m|la|scrīptor|t=writer]].^(Wiktionary) De Vaan traces [[m|la|scrībō]] back to [[itc-pro|*skreif-e/o-|t=to carve]] and [[ine-pro|*skreibh-e/o-|t=to carve]].^(de Vaan 2008)

+

+ ==Earliest recorded meaning==

+ Köbler records it first in Cicero,^(Köbler 2010) who uses it in the speech against Caecilius of the men who signed an accusation together with the chief prosecutor.^(OLD 2012)^(Lewis & Short 1879)

+

+ ==Semantic evolution==

+ In Republican law a ''subscrīptor'' was a person who added his name to an accusation beside the accuser and helped to conduct it, an assistant prosecutor:^(OLD 2012)^(Lewis & Short 1879) Cicero calls an opponent's helper ''vēnālis scrīptor et subscrīptor tuus'', “your hired writer and co-signer”,^(Lewis & Short 1879) and a letter of Caelius to Cicero tells of a man who came down to court ''sine ūllō subscrīptōre''.^(Lewis & Short 1879)^(Conte 2010) Gellius, in the 2nd century, used it of a person who supports or sanctions a usage: he calls Claudius and Varro ''subscrīptōrēs approbātōrēsque'' of a word.^(OLD 2012)^(Lewis & Short 1879) In Ecclesiastical Latin it is a signer or approver,^(Stelten 1995) and in medieval Latin a clerk under a chancellor.^(Niermeyer 1976)

+

+ ==Timeline==

+ * 81–43 BC – Cicero uses it of assistant prosecutors.^(OLD 2012)^(Köbler 2010)

+ * c. 165 AD – Gellius uses it of a supporter of a usage.^(OLD 2012)^(Lewis & Short 1879)

+ * Medieval Latin – It is used of a chancellor's clerk.^(Niermeyer 1976)

+

+ ==Meanings==

+ ===Noun===

+ # ''(law)'' A person who signs an accusation jointly with the accuser; an assistant [[m|en|prosecutor]].^(OLD 2012)^(Lewis & Short 1879)

+ # (transferred) A [[m|en|supporter]] or [[m|en|approver]] of something, such as a usage.^(OLD 2012)^(Lewis & Short 1879)^(Stelten 1995)

+ # ''(Medieval Latin)'' A [[m|en|clerk]] subordinate to a [[m|en|chancellor]].^(Niermeyer 1976)

+

+ ==Related words==

+ * [[subscrībō]]

+ * [[scrīptor]]

+

+ ==References==

+ {{reflist}}