messor Latin · revision 33547

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

+

+ ==Pronunciation==

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

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

+

+ ==Forms==

+ '''messor''' ''m'' (genitive messōris, feminine mestrīx); third declension^(Wiktionary)

+

+ ==Etymology==

+ It is [[af|la|metō|-tor|t1=to reap]].^(OLD 2012)^(Wiktionary) De Vaan traces the verb to [[itc-pro|*met-e-|t=to reap]], comparing [[cy|medi|t=to mow, harvest]]; the further root etymology is disputed.^(de Vaan 2008)

+

+ ==Earliest recorded meaning==

+ De Vaan and Köbler date it from Plautus,^(de Vaan 2008)^(Köbler 2010) who uses it figuratively in the ''Captivi'': ''sator sartorque scelerum et messor maxume'', sower, hoer and chief reaper of crimes.^(Lewis & Short 1879)^(Georges 1913)

+

+ ==Semantic evolution==

+ It is a reaper or harvester,^(OLD 2012)^(Lewis & Short 1879) named by Cicero and Ovid;^(Lewis & Short 1879) Horace speaks of the tough guts of reapers, and Juvenal asks that the reapers who feed the city be spared.^(Lewis & Short 1879) Columella calls a mower ''feniseca messor''.^(Lewis & Short 1879) Servius reports, from Fabius Pictor, a god Messor among the gods of farming.^(Lewis & Short 1879)^(Georges 1913) The Vulgate has it in the Gospel of Matthew.^(Lewis & Short 1879) Church Latin keeps it as harvester or reaper.^(Stelten 1995)

+

+ ==Timeline==

+ * c. 250–184 BC – Plautus, figuratively of a “reaper” of crimes.^(Lewis & Short 1879)^(Georges 1913)^(Köbler 2010)

+ * 81–43 BC – Cicero names the reaper.^(Lewis & Short 1879)^(Köbler 2010)

+ * 65–8 BC – Horace, of the tough guts of reapers.^(Lewis & Short 1879)^(Köbler 2010)

+ * c. 400 AD – Servius, on the harvest god Messor.^(Lewis & Short 1879)^(Köbler 2010)

+

+ ==Meanings==

+ ===Noun===

+ # A [[m|en|reaper]], [[m|en|harvester]].^(OLD 2012)^(Lewis & Short 1879)^(Wiktionary)

+ # A [[m|en|mower]] (''fēniseca messor'').^(Lewis & Short 1879)^(Wiktionary)

+ # ''(figurative)'' One who reaps (a crop of crimes).^(Lewis & Short 1879)^(Georges 1913)

+

+ ==Word family==

+ * [[messōrius]]

+

+ ==Related words==

+ * [[messiō]]

+ * [[messis]]

+ * [[metō]]

+

+ ==Usage notes==

+ Georges lists a second ''messor'', a spelling of [[mēnsor]] “surveyor”, found in inscriptions.^(Georges 1913)

+

+ ==References==

+ {{reflist}}