Dictionary

commentator en · NOUN

Pronunciation

• /ˈkɑmənˌteɪtəɹ/ (US)
• /ˈkɒmənˌteɪtə/ (UK)
• (Southern-England) audio

Etymology

In form, from Middle English commentator, from Latin commentātor (“author, inventor, interpreter, jailer”), from commentātus + -or (“-er: forming agent nouns”), from commentāri (“to ponder, to study, to write upon”), from comminīscor (“to think over, to invent”) + -tārī (“to frequently be ~ed”). In meaning, influenced by comment and commentary. By surface analysis, comment + -ator.

Meanings

1. (obsolete, rare) A person who makes a commentary, particularly ▸ Synonym of historian or chronicler, a person who compiles an annotated history.
2. A person who makes a commentary, particularly ▸ A person who compiles explanations and critical notes on a text.
3. A person who makes a commentary, particularly ▸ A person who compiles explanations of the law, particularly (historical) comparatively innovative European jurists in the 14th century, as opposed to earlier glossators.
   • It would be well into the fourteenth century before the commentators came into their own. 2009, Randall Lesaffer, European Legal History: A Cultural and Political Perspective, →ISBN, page 257:
4. A person who makes a commentary, particularly ▸ A person who compiles explanations of biblical passages.
5. A person who makes a commentary, particularly ▸ A person who provides an instantaneous description of a public event, particularly a sporting event, for a mass media audience.
   • He was a commentator for football two years before retiring.
6. A person who makes a commentary, particularly ▸ A person who provides analysis or opinion on current events, especially for a mass media audience.
   • Specifically, and unforgivably, she restarted the Heathrow Third Runway bandwagon, which had been stalled for more than a decade and even declared dead by most commentators. 2025 February 19, Christian Wolmar, “Reeves talks of 'growth' but pays lip service to the railway”, in RAIL, number 1029, page 35:

Forms

Deriveds

commentator's curse · cocommentator · commentate · color commentator · supercommentator · commentatress · commentatorship · subcommentator

Relateds

commentary

Synonyms

historian or chronicler · interpreter (expositor on law or scripture)

Translations (45)

fr commentateur (person who comments) · es comentadora (person who comments) · ko 해설자 (person who comments) · mk комента́тор (person who comments) · uk комента́тор (person who comments) · de Kommentator (person who comments) · be камэнта́тар (person who comments) · te వ్యాఖ్యాత (person who comments) · tr yorumcu (person who comments) · ca comentarista (person who comments) · fi kommentaattori (person who comments) · bg комента́тор (person who comments) · fi selostaja (person who comments) · be камента́тарка (person who comments) · es comentarista (person who comments) · sk komentátorka (person who comments) · cs komentátorka (person who comments) · nl commentator (person who comments) · cs komentátor (person who comments) · es comentador (person who comments) · pl komentatorka (person who comments) · sk komentátor (person who comments) · vi bình luận viên (person who comments) · mk комента́торка (person who comments) · cmn 評論員 /评论员 (person who comments) · de Kommentatorin (person who comments) · pt comentarista (person who comments) · ja コメンテーター (person who comments) · fo viðmerkjari (person who comments) · ar مُعَلِّق (person who comments) · tg шореҳ (person who comments) · ja 評論家 (person who comments) · uk комента́торка (person who comments) · th นักวิจารณ์ (person who comments) · ko 평론가 (person who comments) · hy մեկնաբան (person who comments) · be камента́тар (person who comments) · ru коммента́тор (person who comments) · nb kommentator (person who comments) · nn kommentator (person who comments) · be камэнта́тарка (person who comments) · pl komentator (person who comments) · az şərhçi (person who comments) · eo komentisto (person who comments) · el σχολιαστής (person who comments)

wikidata: Q1642960