explorator Latin · revision 9533

+ {{infobox|confidence=probable|formation=derivation|attested=Plautus|origins=la plōrō}}

+

+ ==Pronunciation==

+ * IPA (Classical): [ɛk.spɫoːˈraː.tɔr]^(Wiktionary)

+ * IPA (Ecclesiastical): [ek.sploˈraː.tor]^(Wiktionary)

+

+ ==Forms==

+ '''explōrātor''' ''m'' (genitive explōrātōris); third declension^(Wiktionary)

+

+ ==Etymology==

+ It is from [[explōrō]] “to search out, reconnoitre” with the agent suffix [[-tor]]; ⟨explōrō⟩ is from [[ex-]] and [[plōrō]] “to cry out”, said to be first a hunters' word for raising game with shouts.^(OLD 2012)^(Wiktionary)^(Etymonline)

+

+ ==Earliest recorded meaning==

+ Köbler's earliest source is Plautus, whom he dates c. 250–184 BC.^(Köbler 2010)

+

+ ==Semantic evolution==

+ It was one who searches out, an investigator, examiner, and in war a scout, a spy, as often in Caesar; in Tacitus the plural were skirmishers, and Suetonius has the ''explōrātor viae'' who ran ahead of the emperor to clear the way.^(OLD 2012)^(Lewis & Short 1879) Lewis & Short note it is not in Cicero.^(Lewis & Short 1879)

+

+ British Medieval Latin used it for a scout, observer, and a spy, as of the spies of Joshua at Jericho.^(DMLBS) It survives in Italian ''esploratore'' and Spanish ''explorador'', and English borrowed it as ''explorator''.^(Wiktionary)

+

+ ==Timeline==

+ * c. 250–184 BC – Plautus uses it.^(Köbler 2010)

+ * c. 180–102 BC – Lucilius uses it.^(Lewis & Short 1879)^(Köbler 2010)

+ * c. 793 – a British text uses it of the spies at Jericho.^(DMLBS)

+

+ ==Meanings==

+ ===Noun===

+ # An investigator, examiner, explorer.^(OLD 2012)^(Lewis & Short 1879)

+ # A [[m|en|scout]], [[m|en|spy]].^(Lewis & Short 1879)^(DMLBS)

+

+ ==Word family==

+ * [[explōrātōrius]]

+

+ ==Related words==

+ * [[explōrō]]

+ * [[plōrō]]

+ * [[explōrātiō]]

+

+ ==References==

+ {{reflist}}