LATIN DICTIONARYLexicon Latīnum
suffix

-ātor

-ātor
Classical[ˈaː.tɔr]Ecclesiastical[ˈaː.tor]

Meaning

  1. morphemeEnlarged form of -tor, used to form agent nouns; -ator, -er
    gladius (“sword”) + -ātor → gladiātor (“gladiator”)
    malleus (“hammer”) + -ātor → malleātor (“hammerer”)

Origins

By rebracketing of words formed from first conjugation verbs, such as cūrātor (cūrāre + -tor), where -ā- is part of the stem.

Descendants
  • Norwegian-ator
  • Manx-derfrom Old Irish -atóir
  • Scottish Gaelic-adairfrom Old Irish -atóir
  • Irish-adóirfrom Old Irish -atóir
  • Breton-adurfrom Proto-Brythonic *-adʉr
  • Cornish-adorfrom Proto-Brythonic *-adʉr
  • Welsh-adurfrom Proto-Brythonic *-adʉr
  • Welsh-awdwrfrom Proto-Brythonic *-ọdr

Quick answers

What does -ātor mean in Latin?
-ātor, a suffix, means “Enlarged form of -tor, used to form agent nouns; -ator, -er”.
How do you pronounce -ātor?
In classical Latin, [ˈaː.tɔr]; in ecclesiastical (church) Latin, [ˈaː.tor].