investigator Latin · revision 9611

+ {{infobox|confidence=established|formation=derivation|attested=Cicero|origins=la vestīgium}}

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+ ==Forms==

+ '''investīgātor''' ''m'' (genitive investīgātōris, feminine investīgātrīx); third declension^(Wiktionary)

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+ ==Etymology==

+ It is from [[investīgō]] “to track, search out” with the agent suffix [[-tor]]; ⟨investīgō⟩ is from [[in-]] and [[vestīgō]] “to track”, related to [[vestīgium]] “footprint”.^(OLD 2012)^(Wiktionary)^(Köbler 2010) De Vaan finds the origin of ⟨vestīgium⟩ uncertain.^(de Vaan 2008)

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+ ==Earliest recorded meaning==

+ Köbler's earliest source is Cicero, whom he dates 81–43 BC, and Lewis & Short and Gaffiot cite him.^(Köbler 2010)^(Lewis & Short 1879)^(Gaffiot 2016)

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+ ==Semantic evolution==

+ It was one who searches or inquires into something, an investigator, as in Cicero's ''ācer et dīligēns rērum investīgātor''.^(OLD 2012)^(Lewis & Short 1879)^(Gaffiot 2016) Köbler records ''investīgātor canis'', a tracking dog.^(Köbler 2010)

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+ In Ecclesiastical Latin it was an examiner, investigator.^(Stelten 1995) Medieval Latin used it for a sleuth-hound, and British Medieval Latin for a tracker, follower.^(Niermeyer 1976)^(DMLBS) It survives in Italian ''investigatore'' and Spanish ''investigador''.^(Wiktionary)

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+ ==Timeline==

+ * 81–43 BC – Cicero uses it.^(Lewis & Short 1879)^(Köbler 2010)

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+ ==Meanings==

+ ===Noun===

+ # An [[m|en|investigator]], inquirer.^(OLD 2012)

+ # ''(Medieval Latin)'' A [[m|en|sleuth-hound]]; a tracker.^(Niermeyer 1976)^(DMLBS)

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+ ==Related words==

+ * [[investīgō]]

+ * [[vestīgium]]

+ * [[investīgātiō]]

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+ ==References==

+ {{reflist}}