senator (n.)

c. 1200, senatour, "member of a council of citizens invested with a share of the government of a state," specifically in reference to ancient Rome, from Old French senator (Modern French sénateur), from Latin senator "member of the senate," from senex "old; old man" (from PIE root *sen- "old").

Elder (n.) would be the native equivalent. Old English might also express the idea by folcwita. As "member of a (modern) governing body" from late 14c.; specifically in U.S. use from 1788. Fem. form senatress attested from 1731. The Senators was the name of the professional baseball team in Washington, D.C., from 1891 to 1971.

also from c. 1200

Entries linking to senator

elder (adj.)

"more old," Old English (Mercian) eldra, comparative of eald, ald (see old); only English survival of umlaut in comparison. Superseded by older since 16c. Elder statesman (1921) originally was a translation of Japanese genro (plural).

senatorial (adj.)

"of or pertaining to a senate or senators," 1740, from French sénatorial or from Latin senatorius "pertaining to a senator" or formed in English from senator + -al (1). Earlier adjectives were senatory (1520s), senatorian (1610); senatorical (1610s), and the best of the lot, senatorious (1660s). Related: Senatorially.

*sen-

Proto-Indo-European root meaning "old."

It forms all or part of: monseigneur; seignior; senate; senescent; seneschal; senicide; senile; senility; senior; seniority; senor; senora; senorita; shanachie; Shannon; signor; sir; sire; surly.

It is the hypothetical source of/evidence for its existence is provided by: Sanskrit sanah "old;" Avestan hana- "old," Old Persian hanata- "old age, lapse of time;" Armenian hin "old;" Greek enos "old, of last year;" Latin senilis "of old age," senex "old, old man;" Lithuanian senas "old," senis "an old man;" Gothic sineigs "old" (used only of persons), sinistra "elder, senior;" Old Norse sina "dry standing grass from the previous year;" Old Irish sen, Old Welsh hen "old."

Trends of senator

adapted from books.google.com/ngrams/. Ngrams are probably unreliable.

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(founded for that purpose in 1816), launched as a free republic in 1847; the name was chosen by society member and U.S. senator...

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"The Mighty Dollar" a popular play of the day featuring the character Bardwell Slote, a simple, greedy, bloviating U.S. senator...

Senator Roscoe Conkling, and in mid-20c. it often was a derogatory term, especially in U.S. politics (me-too-ism)....

filibuster

Originally of the senator who led it; the maneuver itself so called by 1893. Not technically restricted to U.S....

legislator

"a lawgiver, a maker of laws," c. 1600, from Latin legis lator "proposer of a law," from legis, genitive of lex "law" (see legal (adj.)) + lator "proposer," agent noun of lātus "borne, brought, carried" (see oblate (n.)), which was used as past tense of ferre "to carry" (from PIE

naughty

late 14c., nowghty, noughti "needy, having nothing," also "evil, immoral, corrupt, unclean," from nought, naught "evil, an evil act; nothingness; a trifle; insignificant person; the number zero" (from Old English nawiht "nothing;" see naught)) + -y (2). Specific meaning "sexually

twitterpated

1942, apparently first attested in the Walt Disney movie "Bambi" (there also was a song by that name but it was not in the studio release of the film), a past-participle adjective formed from twitter in the "tremulous excitement" noun sense (1670s) + pate (n.2) "head" (compare fl

curtail

late 15c., "restrict or limit," a word based on Old French courtault "made short," from court "short" (Old French cort, from Latin curtus, from PIE root *sker- (1) "to cut") + -ault, a pejorative suffix of Germanic origin. From 1550s as "cut short, cut off the end of." General se

stake

"pointed stick or post; stick of wood sharpened at one end for driving into the ground, used as part of a fence, as a boundary-mark, as a post to tether an animal to, or as a support for something (a vine, a tent, etc.)," Old English staca "pin, stake," from Proto-Germanic *stako

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updated on April 29, 2022

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Dictionary entries near senator

semper-

semper idem

sempiternal

*sen-

senate

senator

senatorial

send

sended

sender

send-off