commentator
nounUS /ˈkɑmənˌteɪtəɹ/ · UK /ˈkɒmənˌteɪtə/
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.
› A person who makes a commentary, particularly
A person who compiles explanations and critical notes on a text.
Law 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:
Christianity A person who compiles explanations of biblical passages.
Hobbies, Lifestyle, Media, Sports 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.
Media 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:
- Synonyms
- interpreter
- Derived terms
- cocommentator, color commentator, commentate, commentator's curse, commentatorship, commentatress, subcommentator, supercommentator
- Related terms
- commentary