dictator Latin · revision 8366
16 Oct 2026, 16:02 by bogdan “New Latin entry (sources: de Vaan, OLD, Lewis & Short, TLL...)” current version
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+ {{infobox|confidence=established|formation=derivation|attested=Cato|origins=ine-pro *deyḱ-}}
+
+ ==Pronunciation==
+ * IPA (Classical): [dɪkˈtaː.tɔr]^(Wiktionary)
+ * IPA (Ecclesiastical): [dikˈtaː.tor]^(Wiktionary)
+
+ ==Forms==
+ '''dictātor''' ''m'' (genitive dictātōris, feminine dictātrīx); third declension^(Wiktionary)
+
+ ==Etymology==
+ It is from [[dictō]] “to say often, prescribe” with the agent suffix [[-tor]].^(OLD 2012)^(Wiktionary)^(Etymonline) De Vaan argues from the chronology of the forms that ⟨dictātor⟩ was formed independently of the verb ⟨dictāre⟩, which is later; both belong to [[dīcō]] “to say”, from [[ine-pro|*deyḱ-|t=to show]].^(de Vaan 2008)
+
+ ==Earliest recorded meaning==
+ The OLD's earliest citations are from Cato, of an Italian municipal officer and of Carthaginian commanders.^(OLD 2012) Köbler dates Cato 234–149 BC.^(Köbler 2010)
+
+ ==Semantic evolution==
+ It was a magistrate with full powers appointed at Rome in an emergency, and the chief magistrate of several Italian towns.^(OLD 2012)^(Lewis & Short 1879) Cato also applied it to Carthaginian generals.^(OLD 2012)
+
+ Gregory of Tours and other Medieval Latin writers used it, and British Medieval Latin glossed it as “a director, a prince”.^(Köbler 2010)^(DMLBS) It survives in Italian ''dittatore'' and Spanish ''dictador'', and gave [[en|dictator]] in the late 14th century, “Roman chief magistrate with absolute authority”.^(Wiktionary)^(Etymonline)
+
+ ==Timeline==
+ * 234–149 BC – Cato uses it of Italian and Carthaginian officials.^(OLD 2012)^(Köbler 2010)
+ * 81–43 BC – Cicero uses it.^(Köbler 2010)
+ * late 14th century – English ''dictator'' is recorded.^(Etymonline)
+
+ ==Meanings==
+ ===Noun===
+ # A [[m|en|dictator]], a Roman magistrate with full powers in an emergency.^(OLD 2012)
+ # The chief magistrate of an Italian town.^(OLD 2012)
+ # A Carthaginian commander.^(OLD 2012)
+
+ ==Word family==
+ * [[dictātōrius]]
+ * [[dictātūra]]
+
+ ==Related words==
+ * [[dīcō]]
+ * [[dictāmen]]
+ * [[dictāta]]
+ * [[dictātiō]]
+ * [[dictātiuncula]]
+ * [[dictātrīx]]
+ * [[dictiō]]
+ * [[dictiōsus]]
+ * [[dictitō]]
+ * [[dictō]]
+ * [[en|dictator]]
+
+ ==References==
+ {{reflist}}