litigator Latin · revision 36810

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

+

+ ==Forms==

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

+

+ ==Etymology==

+ It is [[af|la|lītigō|-tor|t1=to go to law, dispute]].^(OLD 2012)^(TLL)^(Georges 1913) De Vaan lists that verb among the derivatives of [[m|la|līs|t=lawsuit, dispute]],^(de Vaan 2008) which goes back to [[itc-pro|*slī-ti-|t=accusation, dispute]].^(de Vaan 2008)

+

+ ==Earliest recorded meaning==

+ The TLL says that the word was known to Cato, and finds it in texts from Cicero and the jurist Alfenus on.^(TLL) Cicero asks in a letter whether no one but litigants (''praeter lītigātōrēs nēmō'') is carrying his letters to his correspondent.^(TLL)^(Conte 2010)

+

+ ==Semantic evolution==

+ It was the legal term for either party to a case before a judge or arbitrator,^(TLL) and Quintilian uses it of the client of an advocate, noting that at Athens it was usual to write speeches for litigants to deliver themselves.^(TLL)^(Conte 2010) Pliny the Elder and Lactantius use it more generally of a quarrelsome disputant.^(Lewis & Short 1879)^(Georges 1913) Suetonius contrasts litigants in Rome with those of the provinces.^(Georges 1913) The word passed into Greek, where it is found in Justinian's Novels and John Lydus.^(TLL)

+

+ It kept its legal sense in Ecclesiastical and medieval Latin,^(Stelten 1995)^(DMLBS) as in William of Malmesbury and John of Salisbury.^(DMLBS) English formed ''litigator'' afresh in 1880, from the verb ''litigāre''.^(Etymonline)

+

+ ==Timeline==

+ * 81–43 BC – Cicero uses it of litigants.^(TLL)^(Köbler 2010)

+ * 1st century BC – Alfenus uses it in his legal writings.^(TLL)^(Köbler 2010)

+ * c. 35–95/96 AD – Quintilian uses it of an advocate's client.^(TLL)^(Köbler 2010)

+ * 490–c. 560 AD – John Lydus uses it in Greek.^(TLL)^(Köbler 2010)

+ * 1167 – John of Salisbury uses it in a letter.^(DMLBS)

+ * 1880 – English forms ''litigator''.^(Etymonline)

+

+ ==Meanings==

+ ===Noun===

+ # A party to a [[m|en|lawsuit]], a [[m|en|litigant]].^(OLD 2012)^(Lewis & Short 1879)^(Stelten 1995)

+ # The client of an [[m|en|advocate]].^(Conte 2010)

+ # A quarrelsome disputant.^(Lewis & Short 1879)^(Georges 1913)

+

+ ==Related words==

+ * [[lītigō]]

+ * [[līs]]

+ * [[lītigium]]

+ * [[en|litigator]]

+

+ ==Usage notes==

+ Manuscripts confuse it with [[ligātor]], and it is a false reading for [[licitātor]] in Cicero.^(TLL)

+

+ ==References==

+ {{reflist}}