delator

English

Etymology

From Middle English delatoures pl, from Latin dēlātor.

Pronunciation

• Rhymes: -eɪtə(ɹ)

Noun

delator (plural delators)

1. An accuser; an informer.
   • 1655, James Howell, “To the Rt. Hon, the Lord Mohun”, in Epistolæ Ho-Elianæ. Familiar Letters Domestic and Forren. […], 3rd edition, volume (please specify the page), London: […] Humphrey Mos[e]ley, […], →OCLC:

     […] his Accuser or Delator […]

Anagrams

• leotard

Interlingua

Noun

delator (plural delatores)

1. informer

Latin

Etymology

From dēlātus (perfect participle of dēferō) +‎ -tor (“-er”, agent noun suffix).

Pronunciation

• (Classical Latin) IPA^(key): [deːˈɫaː.tɔr]
• (modern Italianate Ecclesiastical) IPA^(key): [deˈlaː.tor]

Noun

dēlātor m (genitive dēlātōris, feminine dēlātrīx); third declension

1. (post-Augustan) accuser, informer, informant, denouncer

Declension

Third-declension noun.

	singular	plural
nominative	dēlātor	dēlātōrēs
genitive	dēlātōris	dēlātōrum
dative	dēlātōrī	dēlātōribus
accusative	dēlātōrem	dēlātōrēs
ablative	dēlātōre	dēlātōribus
vocative	dēlātor	dēlātōrēs

Related terms

• dēlātiō

Descendants

• → Catalan: delator
• → English: delator
• → French: délateur
• → Galician: delator
• → Italian: delatore
• → Occitan: delator
• → Portuguese: delator
• → Romanian: delator
• → Spanish: delator

References

• “delator”, in Charlton T. Lewis and Charles Short (1879), A Latin Dictionary, Oxford: Clarendon Press
• "delator", in Charles du Fresne du Cange, Glossarium Mediæ et Infimæ Latinitatis (augmented edition with additions by D. P. Carpenterius, Adelungius and others, edited by Léopold Favre, 1883–1887)
• “delator”, in Gaffiot, Félix (1934), Dictionnaire illustré latin-français, Hachette.

Portuguese

Etymology

Learned borrowing from Latin dēlātōrem (“informer, denouncer”).

Pronunciation

 

• (Brazil) IPA^(key): /de.laˈtoʁ/ [de.laˈtoh]

• (Brazil) IPA^(key): /de.laˈtoʁ/ [de.laˈtoh]
  • (São Paulo) IPA^(key): /de.laˈtoɾ/
  • (Rio de Janeiro) IPA^(key): /de.laˈtoʁ/ [de.laˈtoχ]
  • (Caipira) IPA^(key): /de.laˈtoɻ/

 

• (Portugal) IPA^(key): /dɨ.laˈtoɾ/

• (Portugal) IPA^(key): /dɨ.laˈtoɾ/
  • (Southern Portugal) IPA^(key): /dɨ.laˈto.ɾi/

• Rhymes: (Portugal, São Paulo) -oɾ, (Brazil) -oʁ
• Hyphenation: de‧la‧tor

Noun

delator m (plural delatores, feminine delatora, feminine plural delatoras)

1. informant; whistle-blower

Further reading

• “delator”, in Dicionário Aulete Digital (in Portuguese), Rio de Janeiro: Lexikon Editora Digital, 2008–2026
• “delator”, in Dicionário Priberam da Língua Portuguesa (in Portuguese), Lisbon: Priberam, 2008–2026

Romanian

Etymology

Borrowed from French délateur.

Noun

delator m (plural delatori, feminine equivalent delatoare)

1. informer

Declension

	singular			plural
	indefinite	definite		indefinite	definite
nominative-accusative	delator	delatorul		delatori	delatorii
genitive-dative	delator	delatorului		delatori	delatorilor
vocative	delatorule			delatorilor

Spanish

Etymology

From Latin dēlātōrem (“informer, denouncer”).

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /delaˈtoɾ/ [d̪e.laˈt̪oɾ]
• Rhymes: -oɾ
• Syllabification: de‧la‧tor

Adjective

delator (feminine delatora, masculine plural delatores, feminine plural delatoras)

1. telltale

   Synonym: chivato

Related terms

• delatar

Noun

delator m (plural delatores, feminine delatora, feminine plural delatoras)

1. informer

   Synonym: informante

2. betrayer, accuser

   Synonyms: acusador, traidor

Further reading

• “delator”, in Diccionario de la lengua española [Dictionary of the Spanish Language] (in Spanish), online version 23.8.1, Royal Spanish Academy [Spanish: Real Academia Española], 15 December 2025