salisator

Latin

FWOTD – 13 January 2022

Etymology

From *salisō (“to jump”) +‎ -tor.

Pronunciation

• (Classical Latin) IPA^(key): /sa.liˈsaː.tor/, [s̠älʲɪˈs̠äːt̪ɔr]
• (modern Italianate Ecclesiastical) IPA^(key): /sa.liˈsa.tor/, [säliˈs̬äːt̪or]

Noun

salisātor m (genitive salisātōris); third declension (hapax)

1. a superstitious person who takes the twitching of body parts as omen
   • c. 600 CE – 625 CE, Isidorus Hispalensis, Etymologiae 8.9.29:

     Salisātōrēs vocātī sunt, quia dum eīs membrōrum quaecumque partēs salierint, aliquid sibi exinde prosperum seu trīste sīgnificāre praedīcunt.

     Salisatores are called so because they immediately predict it to mean something either fortunate or unfortunate for themselves when any body part of theirs twitches.

Declension

Third-declension noun.

Case	Singular	Plural
Nominative	salisātor	salisātōrēs
Genitive	salisātōris	salisātōrum
Dative	salisātōrī	salisātōribus
Accusative	salisātōrem	salisātōrēs
Ablative	salisātōre	salisātōribus
Vocative	salisātor	salisātōrēs

Related terms

• salisātiō

References

• “salisator”, in Charlton T. Lewis and Charles Short (1879) A Latin Dictionary, Oxford: Clarendon Press
• salisator in Gaffiot, Félix (1934) Dictionnaire illustré latin-français, Hachette.