luctator Latin · revision 36412

+ {{infobox|confidence=established|formation=derivation|attested=c. 250–184 BC, Plautus|origins=la luctor}}

+

+ ==Pronunciation==

+ * Classical: [ɫuːkˈtaː.tɔr], [ɫʊkˈtaː.tɔr]^(Wiktionary)

+ * Ecclesiastical: [lukˈtaː.tor]^(Wiktionary)

+

+ ==Forms==

+ '''luctātor''' ''m'' (genitive luctātōris); third declension^(OLD 2012)^(Lewis & Short 1879)

+

+ ==Etymology==

+ It is [[af|la|luctor|-tor|t1=to wrestle]], an agent noun.^(OLD 2012)^(Wiktionary)^(TLL) De Vaan lists it with that verb, which he takes as a frequentative built on a participle [[itc-pro|*lukto-]], from [[ine-pro|*lug-to-|t=bent]]; he adds that the etymology is not certain.^(de Vaan 2008) He compares [[sga|fo·loing|t=supports]] and [[grc|λύγος|tr=lúgos|t=withy, twigs]].^(de Vaan 2008)

+

+ ==Earliest recorded meaning==

+ The TLL records it from Plautus on.^(TLL) In the ''Pseudolus'' wine is called a crafty wrestler that first seizes the feet (''pedēs captat prīmum, luctātor dolōsust'').^(TLL)^(Lewis & Short 1879)^(Georges 1913)

+

+ ==Semantic evolution==

+ Georges explains Plautus' joke: Greek wrestlers, oiled and slippery, tried above all to seize the opponent by the feet.^(Georges 1913) Ovid writes that a fresh wrestler is stronger on the yellow sand,^(Lewis & Short 1879)^(TLL) and Seneca of a wrestler who, thrown three times, lost the palm.^(Lewis & Short 1879) Pliny the Elder mentions statues and paintings of wrestlers,^(Lewis & Short 1879)^(TLL) and Quintilian compares the training of an orator with that of a runner or a wrestler.^(TLL) Suetonius mentions wrestlers kept at Nero's court.^(TLL)

+

+ Christian writers used it figuratively: Ambrose of the wrestler in the arena,^(TLL) and Jerome calls Habakkuk a strong and unbending wrestler.^(TLL) In medieval British sources it was used of Jacob wrestling in Genesis and of the Devil as a wrestler; an account of 1375 records a payment to a wrestler.^(DMLBS)

+

+ ==Timeline==

+ * c. 250–184 BC – Plautus calls wine a crafty wrestler.^(TLL)^(Köbler 2010)

+ * 43 BC–18 AD – Ovid uses it of a fresh wrestler on the sand.^(Lewis & Short 1879)^(Köbler 2010)

+ * 4 BC–65 AD – Seneca writes of a wrestler thrown three times.^(Lewis & Short 1879)^(Köbler 2010)

+ * 23/24–79 AD – Pliny the Elder mentions statues of wrestlers.^(Lewis & Short 1879)^(TLL)^(Köbler 2010)

+ * c. 383–419/420 AD – Jerome calls Habakkuk a wrestler.^(TLL)^(Köbler 2010)

+ * 639–709 AD – Aldhelm uses it in a comparison with wrestlers in the arena.^(DMLBS)^(Köbler 2010)

+

+ ==Meanings==

+ ===Noun===

+ # A [[m|en|wrestler]].^(OLD 2012)^(Lewis & Short 1879)

+ # A wrestler shown in a statue or painting.^(Lewis & Short 1879)

+ # ''(figurative)'' A crafty opponent;^(Lewis & Short 1879)^(TLL) ''(Christian)'' one who strives, as a wrestler in a contest.^(Lewis & Short 1879)^(TLL)

+

+ ==Related words==

+ * [[luctor]]

+ * [[lucta]]

+ * [[luctātiō]]

+

+ ==References==

+ {{reflist}}