cellarium

Forms

cellārium n (genitive cellāriī or cellārī); second declension^[1] Also spelled ⟨celarium⟩ and ⟨cellerium⟩;^[2][3][4] the MLW also records a rare neuter ⟨cellare⟩.^[3]

Etymology

It is from Latin cella (“storeroom, small room”) + -ārium.^[1][5] The OLD derives it from the adjective cellārius (“of a storeroom”), whose neuter it is, and Wiktionary also explains it through that adjective;^[6][1] Lewis & Short call it a post-classical collateral form of the noun.^[7]

Isidore of Seville explained the name by the table service, or the food left over, being gathered in it,^[8] and Honorius Augustodunensis as if from ⟨celāns vīnum⟩, “hiding the wine”.^[3]

Earliest recorded meaning

Its first author is the jurist Scaevola, quoted in the Digest, who uses it of a storeroom for food.^{[7][9][10][11]}

Semantic evolution

Later writers used it for a pantry or storeroom:^[7][9] the medical writer Caelius Aurelianus has it,^[7][9] Ambrose puts it beside prōmptuārium, a sermon ascribed to Augustine beside horreum, a granary,^[9] and the Vulgate has it in Deuteronomy.^[9] By metonymy it meant the provisions themselves, in the Historia Augusta and the Theodosian Code.^[7][9][11]

Medieval Latin used it for a storehouse, granary, warehouse and wine-cellar,^[12][3][13] and for a warehouse of the fisc for goods taken from sea trade.^[12] A Catalan charter of 807 lists houses and storerooms, and one of 957 a wine-cellar with its vats.^[13] The MLW also records it, perhaps, for a crypt or sacristy, and for the office of the cellarer;^[3] a Hungarian record of 1488 uses it of a cell where a prisoner was chained.^[4] It is the source of Old High German kellari and German Keller,^[2] and of English cellar, through Anglo-French and Old French.^[5]

Timeline

• before 533 AD – The Digest quotes the jurist Scaevola's use of it for a storeroom.^[7][9]
• c. 560–636 AD – Isidore of Seville explains its name.^[8][2]
• third quarter of the 8th century – Arbeo mentions the man in charge of a cellar.^[3][2]
• 807 – A Catalan charter lists storerooms.^[13]
• 957 – A Catalan charter has a wine-cellar with its vats.^[13]
• early 13th century – English cellar “store room” is recorded.^[5]
• 1488 – A Hungarian record uses it of a prison cell.^[4]

Meanings

Noun

1. A storeroom, pantry, larder.^{[6][7][9][14]}
2. (Late Latin) Provisions, food supplies.^[7][9][11]
3. (Medieval Latin) A storehouse, granary; a cellar, wine-cellar.^{[12][3][4][13]}
4. (Medieval Latin) cellārium fiscī: a warehouse for goods taken by the fisc from sea trade.^[12]
5. (Medieval Latin) The office of cellarer.^[3]
6. (Medieval Latin) A prison cell.^[4]

Word family

• cellāriārius
• cellariensis
• cellariolum

Related words

• cellārius
• English cellar

References

1. ^ a b c d e Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
2. ^ a b c d Köbler, Gerhard (2010), Lateinisches Abkunfts- und Wirkungswörterbuch für Altertum und Mittelalter, online ed., koeblergerhard.de
3. ^ a b c d e f g h Mittellateinisches Wörterbuch bis zum ausgehenden 13. Jahrhundert (1967–), Munich: C. H. Beck; Bayerische Akademie der Wissenschaften
4. ^ a b c d e Bartal, Antal, et al. (1987–), Lexicon Latinitatis Medii Aevi Hungariae, Budapest: Akadémiai Kiadó; online ed. ELTE
5. ^ a b c Harper, Douglas. Online Etymology Dictionary, https://www.etymonline.com
6. ^ a b Glare, P. G. W., ed. (2012), Oxford Latin Dictionary, 2nd ed., Oxford: Oxford University Press
7. ^ a b c d e f g h Lewis, Charlton T.; Short, Charles (1879), A Latin Dictionary, Oxford: Clarendon Press
8. ^ a b du Cange, Charles du Fresne, et al. (1883–1887), Glossarium mediae et infimae latinitatis, augmented ed. by Léopold Favre, Niort: L. Favre
9. ^ a b c d e f g h i Georges, Karl Ernst (1913–1918), Ausführliches lateinisch-deutsches Handwörterbuch, 8th ed., ed. Heinrich Georges, Hannover; Leipzig: Hahn
10. ^ Gaffiot, Félix (2016), Dictionnaire latin-français, new ed. by Gérard Gréco et al. (Gaffiot 2016), online ed.
11. ^ a b c Conte, Gian Biagio; Pianezzola, Emilio; Ranucci, Giuliano (2010), il Latino: Vocabolario della lingua latina, 3rd ed., Florence: Le Monnier
12. ^ a b c d Niermeyer, J. F. (1976), Mediae Latinitatis Lexicon Minus, Leiden: Brill
13. ^ a b c d e Glossarium Mediae Latinitatis Cataloniae (1960–; online ed. 2025), Barcelona: CSIC / Institució Milà i Fontanals, gmlc.imf.csic.es
14. ^ Stelten, Leo F. (1995), Dictionary of Ecclesiastical Latin, Peabody, Mass.: Hendrickson