abactor

English

Alternative forms

• abacter

Etymology

From Late Latin abactor (“cattle rustler”), from abigō (“drive away”); from ab (“from, away from”) + agō (“drive”).

Pronunciation

• (General American) IPA^(key): /ˈæˌbæk.tɚ/, /æˈbæk.tɚ/

• Audio:

  (file)

Noun

abactor (plural abactors)

1. (law, archaic) One who steals and drives away cattle or beasts by herds or droves; a cattle rustler.

   Synonyms: see Thesaurus:rustler

   • 1659, H. Hammond, A Paraphrase and Annotations Upon the Books of the Psalms:

     […] not only from straying, but, as in time of warr, from invaders and abactors […]

   • 1992, Okkūr Mācāttiyar, translated by K.G. Seshadri, “Purananuru 279”, in Indian Literature, volume 35, number 149, page 27:

     But yesterday, / it was her husband / Who’d lost his life in the fight / As he beat the abactors back, / Who tried to seize their cattle.

Hyponyms

• horse thief, sheepstealer, napper (obsolete)

Translations

one who steals and drives away cattle or beasts by herds

• Bulgarian: краде́ц на доби́тък m (kradéc na dobítǎk)
• Dutch: runderdief m, veedief (nl) m
• Finnish: karjavaras
• Latin: abactor (la) m
• Polish: złodziej bydła m pers
• Portuguese: abactor (pt) m, abígeo (pt) m

Anagrams

• CATOBAR, acrobat

Latin

FWOTD – 9 August 2022

Etymology

From abigō (“drive away”), from ab (“from, away from”) + agō (“drive”).

Pronunciation

• (Classical Latin) IPA^(key): /aˈbaːk.tor/, [äˈbäːkt̪ɔr]
• (modern Italianate Ecclesiastical) IPA^(key): /aˈbak.tor/, [äˈbäkt̪or]

Noun

abāctor m (genitive abāctōris); third declension

1. A cattle thief; abactor or rustler.
   • c. 125 CE – 180 CE, Apuleius, Metamorphoses 7.26:

     ...meum vero Bellerophontem abactorem indubitatum cruentumque percussorem criminantes...

     ...and as for my Bellerophon, they accused him of being an undoubted rustler and a bloody murderer.

   • c. 300 CE – 400 CE, Julius Paulus Prudentissimus, Pauli Sententiae V.18:

     Abactores sunt qui unum equum, duas equas, totidemque boves, vel capram decem, aut porcos quinque abegerint.

     Rustlers are those who drive away one stallion, two mares, as many cattle, or ten goats, or five pigs.

   • c. 600 CE – 625 CE, Isidorus Hispalensis, Etymologiae 10.14:

     Abactor est fur iumentorum, et pecorum, quem vulgo abigeum vocant, ab abigendo scilicet.

     Abactor is a thief of draft animals and domestic animals, whom they call in vulgar Latin abigeus, naturally derived from abigendo.

2. A man who abducts.
   • c. 334 CE – 337 CE, Julius Firmicus Maternus, Matheseos Libri VIII Liber VI.31.6:

     Si vero in aquosis signis fuerint constituti, pecorum abactores efficient, insequentibus hominibus minaci semper gladio resistentes.

     But if they are arranged in the water signs, they create abductors of domestic animals, opposing chasing men with an ever-threatening sword.

   • c. 343 CE – 350 CE, Julius Firmicus Maternus, De Errore Profanarum Religionum Cap V:

     Virum vero abactorem bovum colentes sacra eius ad ignis transferunt potestatem, sicut propheta eius tradidit nobis dicens...

     Their sacrifices, worshipping that man, abductor of the bull (Mithras), bring power to the fires, as their prophet imparted to us, saying...

Declension

Third-declension noun.

	singular	plural
nominative	abāctor	abāctōrēs
genitive	abāctōris	abāctōrum
dative	abāctōrī	abāctōribus
accusative	abāctōrem	abāctōrēs
ablative	abāctōre	abāctōribus
vocative	abāctor	abāctōrēs

Synonyms

• (cattle thief): abigeātor, abigeus

Related terms

• abāctius
• abāctus
• abagmentum
• abiga
• abigeātor
• abigeātus
• abigeus
• abigō

Descendants

• → English: abactor
• → Portuguese: abactor

Further reading

• “abactor”, in Charlton T. Lewis and Charles Short (1879) A Latin Dictionary, Oxford: Clarendon Press
• abactor in Gaffiot, Félix (1934) Dictionnaire illustré latin-français, Hachette.
• “abactor”, in ΛΟΓΕΙΟΝ [Logeion] Dictionaries for Ancient Greek and Latin (in English, French, Spanish, German, Dutch and Chinese), University of Chicago, since 2011
• abactor in Charles du Fresne du Cange’s Glossarium Mediæ et Infimæ Latinitatis (augmented edition with additions by D. P. Carpenterius, Adelungius and others, edited by Léopold Favre, 1883–1887)

Portuguese

Etymology

Learned borrowing from Latin abāctōrem.

Pronunciation

 

• (Brazil) IPA^(key): /a.bakˈtoʁ/ [a.bakˈtoh], /a.ba.kiˈtoʁ/ [a.ba.kiˈtoh]

• (Brazil) IPA^(key): /a.bakˈtoʁ/ [a.bakˈtoh], /a.ba.kiˈtoʁ/ [a.ba.kiˈtoh]
  • (São Paulo) IPA^(key): /a.bakˈtoɾ/, /a.ba.kiˈtoɾ/
  • (Rio de Janeiro) IPA^(key): /a.bakˈtoʁ/ [a.bakˈtoχ], /a.ba.kiˈtoʁ/ [a.ba.kiˈtoχ]
  • (Southern Brazil) IPA^(key): /a.bakˈtoɻ/

 

• (Portugal) IPA^(key): /ɐ.bɐˈktoɾ/ [ɐ.βɐˈktoɾ]

• (Portugal) IPA^(key): /ɐ.bɐˈktoɾ/ [ɐ.βɐˈktoɾ]
  • (Southern Portugal) IPA^(key): /ɐ.bɐˈkto.ɾi/ [ɐ.βɐˈkto.ɾi]

• (Caipira) IPA^(key): /aˌbak(i)ˈtoɻ/
• Hyphenation: a‧bac‧tor

Noun

abactor m (plural abactores, feminine abactora, feminine plural abactoras)

1. abactor (cattle thief)

   Synonym: abígeo

Related terms

• abacto