crater

Pronunciation

• IPA (Classical): [ˈkraː.teːr]^[1]
• IPA (Ecclesiastical): [ˈkraː.ter]^[1]

Forms

crātēr m (genitive crātēris or crātēros); third declension^[1]

Etymology

It is borrowed from Ancient Greek κρατήρ (krātḗr, “mixing bowl”), from κεράννυμι (keránnumi, “to mix”).^[2][1][3] A feminine ⟨crātēra⟩ and an older ⟨crēterra⟩ are also found, and the Greek accusative ⟨crātēra⟩ is frequent in verse.^[2][4]

Earliest recorded meaning

The OLD's earliest citation is from Ennius, of a mixing bowl.^[2] Köbler dates Ennius 204–169 BC.^[5]

Semantic evolution

It meant a mixing bowl for wine and water, as in Ennius and Virgil, a bowl for oil in Virgil, and in Pliny the Elder the basin of a fountain.^[2][6] In Vitruvius it was a southern constellation, the Cup.^[2] From Ovid it meant a bowl-shaped depression, especially the crater of a volcano.^[2] Cicero uses Crātēr of the bay of Naples.^[6]

In Ecclesiastical Latin it meant a bowl.^[7] British Medieval Latin used it for a drinking cup and a holy water stoup.^[8] Döderlein contrasts the old Latin pōculum and calix with Greek names of vessels such as this.^[9] English crater came in the 1610s, of the mouth of a volcano.^[3]

Timeline

• 204–169 BC – Ennius uses it of a mixing bowl.^[2][5]
• c. 84–c. 25 BC – Vitruvius uses it of a constellation.^[2][5]
• 43 BC–18 AD – Ovid uses it of a volcano's crater.^[2][5]
• 1610s – English crater is recorded.^[3]

Meanings

Noun

1. A mixing bowl; the basin of a fountain.^[2]
2. The constellation Crater, the Cup.^[2]
3. A bowl-shaped hollow; the crater of a volcano.^[2]
4. (Medieval Latin) A holy water stoup.^[8]

Related words

• English crater

References

1. ^ a b c d Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
2. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l Glare, P. G. W., ed. (2012), Oxford Latin Dictionary, 2nd ed., Oxford: Oxford University Press
3. ^ a b c Harper, Douglas. Online Etymology Dictionary, https://www.etymonline.com
4. ^ Thesaurus linguae Latinae (1900–), Leipzig: Teubner; Berlin: De Gruyter; open-access ed., Munich: Bayerische Akademie der Wissenschaften
5. ^ a b c d Köbler, Gerhard (2010), Lateinisches Abkunfts- und Wirkungswörterbuch für Altertum und Mittelalter, online ed., koeblergerhard.de
6. ^ a b Gaffiot, Félix (2016), Dictionnaire latin-français, new ed. by Gérard Gréco et al. (Gaffiot 2016), online ed.
7. ^ Stelten, Leo F. (1995), Dictionary of Ecclesiastical Latin, Peabody, Mass.: Hendrickson
8. ^ a b Latham, R. E., D. R. Howlett, R. K. Ashdowne, et al. (1975–2013), Dictionary of Medieval Latin from British Sources, London: British Academy / Oxford University Press
9. ^ Döderlein, Ludwig (1874), Döderlein’s Hand-book of Latin Synonymes, tr. H. H. Arnold, Andover: W. F. Draper