factor Latin · revision 4132

15 Oct 2026, 21:12 by bogdan “New Latin entry (sources: de Vaan, OLD, Lewis & Short, TLL...)” current version
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+ {{infobox|confidence=established|formation=derivation|attested=Plautus|origins=ine-pro *dʰeh₁-}}
+ 
+ ==Pronunciation==
+ * IPA (Classical): [ˈfak.tɔr]^(Wiktionary)
+ * IPA (Ecclesiastical): [ˈfak.tor]^(Wiktionary)
+ 
+ ==Forms==
+ '''factor''' ''m'' (genitive factōris); third declension^(Wiktionary)
+ 
+ ==Etymology==
+ It is [[af|la|faciō|-tor|t1=to make, do]], an agent noun.^(OLD 2012)^(Wiktionary)^(TLL) ''Faciō'' continues [[itc-pro|*fakjō]], from [[ine-pro|*dʰeh₁-|t=to put, place]].^(Wiktionary)
+ 
+ ==Earliest recorded meaning==
+ Plautus, in the Curculio, uses it of the player who sends the ball in a game.^(Gaffiot 2016)^(Wiktionary) Köbler dates Plautus about 250–184 BC.^(Köbler 2010)
+ 
+ ==Semantic evolution==
+ It meant a maker or doer, and Lewis & Short note that it is ante- and post-classical.^(OLD 2012)^(Lewis & Short 1879) Cato the Elder uses it of the men who make olive oil.^(Gaffiot 2016)^(Köbler 2010) Palladius has a maker of casks and jars, Cassiodorus an armourer, and the jurists use it of the perpetrator of a crime.^(Lewis & Short 1879)^(Georges 1913)
+ 
+ In Christian Latin it was the Creator, the maker of things and of the world, as in Lactantius.^(Georges 1913)^(DMLBS) In medieval Latin it also meant a worker of miracles, a delegate or attorney, and a commercial agent.^(MLW)^(Niermeyer 1976) English ''factor'' came through French in the early 15th century for a commercial agent; its use in mathematics dates from 1837.^(Etymonline)
+ 
+ ==Timeline==
+ * c. 250–184 BC – Plautus uses it of a ball player.^(Gaffiot 2016)^(Köbler 2010)
+ * 234–149 BC – Cato the Elder uses it of oil-makers.^(Gaffiot 2016)^(Köbler 2010)
+ * c. 250–317 AD – Lactantius uses it of God the Creator.^(Georges 1913)^(Köbler 2010)
+ * early 15th century – English ''factor'' is recorded.^(Etymonline)
+ 
+ ==Meanings==
+ ===Noun===
+ # A maker, doer, [[m|en|perpetrator]].^(OLD 2012)^(Wiktionary)
+ # An oil-maker, olive presser.^(Gaffiot 2016)^(Köbler 2010)
+ # A ball player who serves the ball.^(Gaffiot 2016)^(Wiktionary)
+ # ''(Ecclesiastical Latin)'' The [[m|en|Creator]].^(Georges 1913)^(DMLBS)
+ # ''(Medieval Latin)'' An agent, attorney; a commercial [[m|en|factor]].^(Niermeyer 1976)
+ 
+ ==Related words==
+ * [[factus]]
+ * [[factura]]
+ * [[facio]]
+ * [[en|factor]]
+ 
+ ==References==
+ {{reflist}}