luctor

Latin

Etymology

Ultimately from Proto-Indo-European *lewg- (“bend, twist”) (whence also lū̆xus, -a, -um (“dislocated”) and lū̆xus, -ūs (“dislocation; splendor”)).

Cognate with Ancient Greek λύγος (lúgos), Lithuanian lugnas, and Old Norse lykna. Compare with English louk; lock.

Per De Vaan, formed as a frequentative from Proto-Italic *luktos, the perfect passive participle form of an unattested non-frequentative verb. De Vaan assumes the stem had a short vowel here and in lū̆xus, despite noting that this is difficult to explain as the word meets the conditions for Lachmann's law to apply; he speculates that a hypothetical nasal present stem (which would regularly have had a short vowel), as found in Celtic, could have exerted analogical influence on the vowel length.^[1]

Pronunciation

(Classical Latin) IPA^(key): /ˈluːk.tor/, [ˈɫ̪uːkt̪ɔr] or IPA^(key): /ˈluk.tor/, [ˈɫ̪ʊkt̪ɔr]
(modern Italianate Ecclesiastical) IPA^(key): /ˈluk.tor/, [ˈlukt̪or]
The u in the first syllable is short per De Vaan (2008) and Wartburg (1928–2002),^[2] long per Bennett (1907).^[3] Bennett appeals to Romance for ū, but Wartburg says there actually seem to be outcomes of both ŭ and ū in Romance. Buchi and Schweickard say that outside of Sardinian, Vegliote and Ladin, all Romance forms are consistent with descent from Proto-Romance *lʊkt‑; they explain the development of *ʊ to /u/ in Gaulish and Iberian varieties as an effect of the following palatal glide that developed in the cluster /kt/.^[4]

Verb

lū̆ctor (present infinitive lū̆ctārī or lū̆ctārier, perfect active lū̆ctātus sum); first conjugation, deponent

to struggle, strive, contend
Synonyms: certō, contendō, ēnītor, cōnītor, nītor, adnītor, ēlabōrō, labōrō, īnsequor, tendō, appetō, mōlior
to wrestle, fight
Synonyms: repugnō, pugnō, contendō, certō, dēcernō, concurrō, bellō, dīmicō, cōnflīgō

Conjugation

Conjugation of lū̆ctor (first conjugation, deponent)
indicative		singular			plural
indicative		first	second	third	first	second	third
active	present	lū̆ctor	lū̆ctāris, lū̆ctāre	lū̆ctātur	lū̆ctāmur	lū̆ctāminī	lū̆ctantur
	imperfect	lū̆ctābar	lū̆ctābāris, lū̆ctābāre	lū̆ctābātur	lū̆ctābāmur	lū̆ctābāminī	lū̆ctābantur
	future	lū̆ctābor	lū̆ctāberis, lū̆ctābere	lū̆ctābitur	lū̆ctābimur	lū̆ctābiminī	lū̆ctābuntur
	perfect	lū̆ctātus + present active indicative of sum
	pluperfect	lū̆ctātus + imperfect active indicative of sum
	future perfect	lū̆ctātus + future active indicative of sum
subjunctive		singular			plural
subjunctive		first	second	third	first	second	third
active	present	lū̆cter	lū̆ctēris, lū̆ctēre	lū̆ctētur	lū̆ctēmur	lū̆ctēminī	lū̆ctentur
	imperfect	lū̆ctārer	lū̆ctārēris, lū̆ctārēre	lū̆ctārētur	lū̆ctārēmur	lū̆ctārēminī	lū̆ctārentur
	perfect	lū̆ctātus + present active subjunctive of sum
	pluperfect	lū̆ctātus + imperfect active subjunctive of sum
imperative		singular			plural
imperative		first	second	third	first	second	third
active	present	—	lū̆ctāre	—	—	lū̆ctāminī	—
active	future	—	lū̆ctātor	lū̆ctātor	—	—	lū̆ctantor
non-finite forms		active			passive
non-finite forms		present	perfect	future	present	perfect	future
infinitives		lū̆ctārī, lū̆ctārier¹	lū̆ctātum esse	lū̆ctātūrum esse	—	—	—
participles		lū̆ctāns	lū̆ctātus	lū̆ctātūrus	—	—	lū̆ctandus
verbal nouns		gerund				supine
		genitive	dative	accusative	ablative	accusative	ablative
		lū̆ctandī	lū̆ctandō	lū̆ctandum	lū̆ctandō	lū̆ctātum	lū̆ctātū

¹The present passive infinitive in -ier is a rare poetic form which is attested.

Derived terms

ēlū̆ctor
lū̆cta (post-Classical and Vulgar Latin)
lū̆ctātiō
lū̆ctātor
oblū̆ctor
relū̆ctor

Descendants

Balkan Romance:
- Aromanian: luptu, alumtu
- Romanian: lupta
- → Albanian: luftoj
Italo-Romance:
- Italian: lottare
  - →? Lombard: lotà, lottà
  - →? Piedmontese: loté
- Neapolitan: luttà
- Sicilian: luttari; alluttari, adduttari
Insular Romance:
- Sardinian:
  - Campidanese: lottai, luttai
  - Logudorese: lottare, luttare
  - Nuorese: lottare
North Italian:
- Gallo-Italic:
  - Lombard: /lyˈt͡ʃa/
  - Piedmontese: /loˈt͡ʃe/
- Friulian: lotâ
- Istriot: lutà
- Romansch: luchiar, lutter, luottar
- Venetan: lotar
Gallo-Romance:
- Old Catalan: luytar
  - Catalan: lluitar
- Franco-Provençal: lutar
- Old French: loiter, luitier, liter
  - Middle French: luiter, liter, lucter
    - French: lutter
  - Norman: litter
- Old Occitan: luchar, lochar, loitar
  - Occitan: luchar, lutar
Ibero-Romance:
- Aragonese: luitar, llutiar (Ribagorçan)
- Asturian: lluchar
- Old Galician-Portuguese: luitar
  - Galician: loitar
  - Portuguese: lutar, luitar (obsolete, dialectal), luctar (obsolete)
- Spanish: luchar

References

Walther von Wartburg (1928–2002) “lŭctāri”, in Französisches Etymologisches Wörterbuch, volume 5: J L, page 439

^ De Vaan, Michiel (2008) “luctor, -ārī”, in Etymological Dictionary of Latin and the other Italic Languages (Leiden Indo-European Etymological Dictionary Series; 7), Leiden, Boston: Brill, →ISBN, page 350
^ Walther von Wartburg (1928–2002) “lŭctāri”, in Französisches Etymologisches Wörterbuch, volume 5: J L, page 438
^ Bennett, Charles E. (1907) The Latin Language: a historical outline of its sounds, inflections, and syntax, Boston: Allyn and Bacon, page 60
^ Buchi, Éva, Schweickard, Wolfgang (2008–) “*/ˈlʊkt-a-/ v.”, in Dictionnaire Étymologique Roman, Nancy: Analyse et Traitement Informatique de la Langue Française, retrieved 21 April 2023.