gladiator

gladiator

See also: Gladiator and gladiátor

English

Alternative forms

• gladiatour (obsolete)

Etymology

From Latin gladiātor, from gladius (“sword”). See also English gladius.

Pronunciation

• (General American) IPA^(key): /ˈɡlædiˌeɪtɚ/

• Audio (Southern England)

  (file)

Noun

gladiator (plural gladiators)

1. (in ancient Rome) A person (professional or slave) who entertained the public by engaging in mortal combat with another, or with a wild animal.
2. (by extension) A disputant in a public controversy or debate.
3. A professional boxer.

Related terms

• gladiatress
• gladiatrix
• gladiolus

Translations

(in ancient Rome) a person (professional or slave) who entertained the public by engaging in mortal combat with another, or with a wild animal

Albanian: gladiator (sq) m Arabic: مُجَالِد‎ m (mujālid), مُصَارِع‎ m (muṣāriʿ) Armenian: գլադիատոր (hy) (gladiator) Belarusian: гладыя́тар m (hladyjátar) Bulgarian: гладиа́тор m (gladiátor) Burmese: ဂလေဒီယေတာ (ga.lediyeta) Catalan: gladiador m Chinese: Mandarin: 角鬥士／角斗士 (zh) (jiǎodòushì), 劍鬥士／剑斗士 (jiàndòushì) (Taiwan, also) Czech: gladiátor (cs) m Danish: gladiator c Dutch: gladiator (nl) m Esperanto: gladiatoro Estonian: gladiaator Finnish: gladiaattori (fi) French: gladiateur (fr) m, belluaire (fr) m Galician: gladiador m Georgian: გლადიატორი (gladiaṭori) German: Gladiator (de) m Greek: μονομάχος (el) m (monomáchos) Ancient: μονομάχος m (monomákhos) Hebrew: גְּלַדְיָאטוֹר‎ (he) m (gladyátor), לוּדָר‎ (he) m (ludár) Hindi: ग्लैडीएटर m (glaiḍīeṭar) Ido: gladiatoro (io) Italian: gladiatore (it) m Japanese: 剣闘士 (けんとうし, kentōshi), グラディエイター (guradieitā) Korean: 검투사(劍鬪士) (geomtusa) Latin: gladiātor (la) m, gladiātrīx f Latvian: gladiators m Lithuanian: gladiatorius m Macedonian: гладија́тор m (gladijátor) Norwegian: Bokmål: gladiator (no) m Nynorsk: gladiator m Persian: گلادیاتور‎ (fa) (gelâdiyâtor) Polish: gladiator (pl) m Portuguese: gladiador (pt) m Romanian: gladiator (ro) m Russian: гладиа́тор (ru) m (gladiátor) Serbo-Croatian: Cyrillic: гладѝја̄тор m Roman: gladìjātor (sh) m Slovak: gladiátor m Slovene: gladiator m Spanish: gladiador (es) m, bestiario (es) m Swedish: gladiator (sv) c Tagalog: gladyador Thai: กลาดิอาตอร์ Ukrainian: гладіа́тор m (hladiátor) Uzbek: gladiator (uz) Cyrillic: гладиатор (uz) (gladiator)

(by extension) a disputant in a public controversy or debate

a professional boxer — see boxer

Verb

gladiator (third-person singular simple present gladiators, present participle gladiatoring, simple past and past participle gladiatored)

1. To fight as entertainment for others.
   • 1915, The Atlantic Monthly - Volume 116, page 642:

     When the dance was done there was the cock-fight, or rather a century of cock-fights, to be reckoned with. For two hundred of these luckless creatures 'gladiatored' bravely, while an appreciative audience held matting up to its chin to keep from being bespattered with blood.

   • 2013 December 4, “What it's like to spend 20 years on death row”, in The Telegraph:

     The guards made me fight other prisoners for their own amusement. It was called gladiatoring.

2. To compete in a public contest.
   • 1994, Saxophone Journal - Volume 19, page 32:

     I played very well as was evidenced in that I was the only participant in the entire six or seven days of wind gladiatoring who received a standing ovation from the orchestra, no less.

   • 2019, Ruth Park, A Fence Around the Cuckoo: Text Classics, page 256:

     It's himself gladiatoring on the harmonium.

3. To debate or argue.
   • 1895, Athol Mayhew, A Jorum of "Punch" with Those who Helped to Brew it:

     He did his gladiatoring doubtless without malice, and from a purely sporting instinct — even as Mr. Punch gave the provocation.

   • 1988, Bernard S. Jackson, Law, fact and narrative coherence, page 71:

     Quoting the accounts in both Time and Newsweek, they note that though the "defense attorney may have outwitted, outsparred, and even "out gladiatored" (another popular image in the trial coverage) his opponent, but he still lost the case.

   • 2005, John K. Hale, Milton's Cambridge Latin: Performing in the Genres, 1625-1632:

     It was all part of the gladiatoring: the true performer would argue each case to the utmost, like a debater or mooter in our own world.

   • 2010, John O'Mahony, R. L. Praeger, The Sunny Side of Ireland, page 71:

     Och! lave off your gladiatoring; sure it's took up I'd be if I did that!

4. To act aggressively toward others.
   • 1863, The Boy's Yearly Book, page 212:

     Why, thin, Mister Levi Slam, don't you think now that a volley poured into them haythen mosquitos beyant would put a stop to their gladiatoring a little?

   • 1946, George A. Birmingham, The Piccadilly Lady, page 70:

     It's the Count von Eisenstein," says he, "that's come over to Eire for protection against the murdering English who are marauding and gladiatoring about Germany and would kill him if they could, but thanks be to God," says my bold McQuirk, "he'll be safe enough here and it'll be a good thing to have a friend of the Irish people living in Kilfenora Castle, though maybe you won't like it."

   • 1981, Ruth Park, The Frost And The Fire, page 162:

     Have I been gladiatoring about the place, boys? Did I squeeze the wizendy little fella a bit rough like?

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Danish

Noun

gladiator c (singular definite gladiatoren, plural indefinite gladiatorer)

1. gladiator

Declension

Declension of gladiator

common gender	Singular		Plural
	indefinite	definite	indefinite	definite
nominative	gladiator	gladiatoren	gladiatorer	gladiatorerne
genitive	gladiators	gladiatorens	gladiatorers	gladiatorernes

Further reading

• gladiator on the Danish Wikipedia.Wikipedia ^da
• “gladiator” in Den Danske Ordbog
• “gladiator” in Ordbog over det danske Sprog

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Dutch

Etymology

From Latin gladiātor, from gladius (“sword”).

Pronunciation

• Audio

  (file)

• Hyphenation: gla‧di‧a‧tor

Noun

gladiator m (plural gladiatoren or gladiators, diminutive gladiatortje n)

1. gladiator; entertainer who engages in mortal combat

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Latin

gladiātōrēs (gladiators)

Etymology

Derived from either gladiō (“I use the sword”) +‎ -tor (“-tor”) or gladior (“I use the sword”) +‎ -tor (“-tor”). The verb gladiāre/gladiārī is attested only indirectly from derived forms such as gladiātor, ars gladiandī or, in an inscription, gladiantēs.[1]

Pronunciation

• (Classical) IPA^(key): /ɡla.diˈaː.tor/, [ɡɫ̪äd̪iˈäːt̪ɔr]
• (Ecclesiastical) IPA^(key): /ɡla.diˈa.tor/, [ɡläd̪iˈäːt̪or]

Noun

gladiātor m (genitive gladiātōris, feminine gladiātrīx); third declension

1. gladiator, swordsman

Declension

Third-declension noun.

Case	Singular	Plural
Nominative	gladiātor	gladiātōrēs
Genitive	gladiātōris	gladiātōrum
Dative	gladiātōrī	gladiātōribus
Accusative	gladiātōrem	gladiātōrēs
Ablative	gladiātōre	gladiātōribus
Vocative	gladiātor	gladiātōrēs

Hyponyms

• (gladiator): prōvocātor, rētiārius, secūtor, thraex

Derived terms

• gladiātōriē
• gladiātōrium
• gladiātūra

Related terms

• gladiolus
• gladius

Descendants

• → Catalan: gladiador
• → Czech: gladiátor
• → Danish: gladiator
• → Dutch: gladiator
• → English: gladiator
• → French: gladiateur
• → German: Gladiator
• → Hungarian: gladiátor
• → Italian: gladiatore
• → Norwegian: gladiator
• → Polish: gladiator
• → Portuguese: gladiador
• → Romanian: gladiator
• → Russian: гладиа́тор (gladiátor)
• → Sicilian: gladiaturi
• → Spanish: gladiador
• → Swedish: gladiator

References

1. Ernst Diehl, Vulgärlateinische inschriften, No. 54

• “gladiator”, in Charlton T. Lewis and Charles Short (1879) A Latin Dictionary, Oxford: Clarendon Press
• “gladiator”, in Charlton T. Lewis (1891) An Elementary Latin Dictionary, New York: Harper & Brothers
• gladiator 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)
• gladiator in Gaffiot, Félix (1934) Dictionnaire illustré latin-français, Hachette
• Carl Meißner; Henry William Auden (1894) Latin Phrase-Book‎, London: Macmillan and Co.
  • to give a gladiatorial show: gladiatores dare
    
  • at the gladiatorial games: gladiatoribus (Att. 2. 19. 3)
    

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Norwegian Bokmål

Noun

gladiator m (definite singular gladiatoren, indefinite plural gladiatorer, definite plural gladiatorene)

1. gladiator

Derived terms

• gladiatorkamp

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Norwegian Nynorsk

Noun

gladiator m (definite singular gladiatoren, indefinite plural gladiatorar, definite plural gladiatorane)

1. gladiator

Derived terms

• gladiatorkamp

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Polish

Etymology

Borrowed from Latin gladiātor.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /ɡlaˈdja.tɔr/

• Audio

  (file)

• Rhymes: -atɔr
• Syllabification: gla‧dia‧tor

Noun

gladiator m pers

1. (Ancient Rome, historical) gladiator

Declension

Declension of gladiator

	singular	plural
nominative	gladiator	gladiatorzy
genitive	gladiatora	gladiatorów
dative	gladiatorowi	gladiatorom
accusative	gladiatora	gladiatorów
instrumental	gladiatorem	gladiatorami
locative	gladiatorze	gladiatorach
vocative	gladiatorze	gladiatorzy

Related terms

adjective

• gladiatorski

 

noun

• gladiatorstwo

 

Further reading

• gladiator in Wielki słownik języka polskiego, Instytut Języka Polskiego PAN
• gladiator in Polish dictionaries at PWN

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Romanian

Etymology

From French gladiateur.

Noun

gladiator m (plural gladiatori)

1. gladiator

Declension

Declension of gladiator

	singular		plural
	indefinite articulation	definite articulation	indefinite articulation	definite articulation
nominative/accusative	(un) gladiator	gladiatorul	(niște) gladiatori	gladiatorii
genitive/dative	(unui) gladiator	gladiatorului	(unor) gladiatori	gladiatorilor
vocative	gladiatorule		gladiatorilor

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Swedish

Etymology

Borrowed from Latin gladiātor, from gladius.

Noun

gladiator c

1. gladiator; entertainer who engaged in mortal combat

Declension

Declension of gladiator
	Singular		Plural
	Indefinite	Definite	Indefinite	Definite
Nominative	gladiator	gladiatorn	gladiatorer	gladiatorerna
Genitive	gladiators	gladiatorns	gladiatorers	gladiatorernas

References

• gladiator in Svenska Akademiens ordlista (SAOL)
• gladiator in Svensk ordbok (SO)
• gladiator in Svenska Akademiens ordbok (SAOB)