acerra

Forms

acerra f (genitive acerrae); first declension^[1]

Etymology

It is perhaps borrowed from Etruscan.^[2][1] No related forms are known in the other Italic languages.^[2] De Vaan finds a loan from Etruscan conceivable: no Etruscan vessel name that could be its source has been found, but Etruscan has names for containers ending in the adjective suffix ⟨-ra⟩, such as Etruscan capra (“container”) and Etruscan malehvra (“amphora”).^[2] Köbler calls it an unexplained old word of the sacred language.^[3] Lewis and Short suggest, as a guess, a link with acer¹ (“maple”).^[4]

Earliest recorded meaning

It is first found in the Twelve Tables, as quoted by Cicero, which forbade among other funeral luxuries long garlands and incense boxes: nē longae corōnae nec acerrae praetereantur.^[2][5][3]

Semantic evolution

In Classical Latin it is the small box for the incense burned in sacrifices and at funerals;^[4][6] Virgil, Horace, Ovid and Persius use it in scenes of offering.^[4][6] Festus gives another meaning, an altar set before the dead on which perfumes were burned; the OLD treats this as doubtful.^[5][4][7]

In Ecclesiastical Latin it is the vessel for incense, the incense boat.^[8]

Timeline

• c. 450 BC – The Twelve Tables forbid incense boxes at funerals.^[5][3]
• 81–43 BC – Cicero quotes that law.^[5][3]
• 70–19 BC – Virgil uses it in a scene of worship.^[4][3]

Meanings

Noun

1. A small box or casket for incense used in sacrifices.^[5][4][6]
2. An altar placed before the dead, on which perfumes were burned (only in Festus, perhaps an error).^[5][7]
3. (Ecclesiastical Latin) An incense boat or other vessel for incense.^[8]

References

1. ^ a b c d Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
2. ^ a b c d de Vaan, Michiel (2008), Etymological Dictionary of Latin and the other Italic Languages, Leiden Indo-European Etymological Dictionary Series 7, Leiden; Boston: Brill
3. ^ a b c d e Köbler, Gerhard (2010), Lateinisches Abkunfts- und Wirkungswörterbuch für Altertum und Mittelalter, online ed., koeblergerhard.de
4. ^ a b c d e f Lewis, Charlton T.; Short, Charles (1879), A Latin Dictionary, Oxford: Clarendon Press
5. ^ a b c d e f Glare, P. G. W., ed. (2012), Oxford Latin Dictionary, 2nd ed., Oxford: Oxford University Press
6. ^ a b c Georges, Karl Ernst (1913–1918), Ausführliches lateinisch-deutsches Handwörterbuch, 8th ed., ed. Heinrich Georges, Hannover; Leipzig: Hahn
7. ^ a b Thesaurus linguae Latinae (1900–), Leipzig: Teubner; Berlin: De Gruyter; open-access ed., Munich: Bayerische Akademie der Wissenschaften
8. ^ a b Stelten, Leo F. (1995), Dictionary of Ecclesiastical Latin, Peabody, Mass.: Hendrickson