Etymologically
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cellarium

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Pronunciation

  • Classical: [kɛlˈlaː.ri.ũː][1]
  • Ecclesiastical: [t͡ʃelˈlaː.ri.um][1]

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
  • 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