English
moderator
Moderator comes from Latin moderor ‘to set a measure or bounds to’.
- Latinc. 75 BCE–200 CEmoderor‘to set a measure or bounds to’
- Latin, derivedc. 75 BCE–200 CEmoderātor
- Englishearliest quotation 1653moderator
attested reconstructed ? uncertain or disputed
Earlier history uncertain.
Lineage
- Latinc. 75 BCE–200 CEmoderor‘to set a measure or bounds to’
- Latin, derivedc. 75 BCE–200 CEmoderātor
- Englishearliest quotation 1653moderator
Earliest quotation: 1653, Izaak Walton, London: […] T. Maxey for Rich[ard] Marriot: “Angling was […] a moderator of passions.”
Equivalent to moderate + -or
The story
First attested as Middle English moderatour.
Linked words
through Proto-Indo-European *med- ‘to measure’
must, medical, medicine, model, mud, medication, mood, med, remedy, meditation, mold, medicinal, module, modest, blackmail, medic, modification, mould, meditate, modulation, modal, modus, modernize, mote, mete, modulus, modicum, modulate, modifiable, modulo, commode, 29 more
Today it means
noun Someone who moderates.
Language periods are conventional ranges, not dates for this word.
Etymograph / Latin moderor / moderator