crucibulum

Forms

crucibulum n (genitive crucibulī); second declension^[1]

Etymology

The origin is uncertain.^[1][2] It ends in the suffix -bulum of instruments and containers, but the base is unclear.^[1] It is usually explained as from Latin crux (“cross”) or the verb cruciō (“to torture”), but the gap in meaning between these words and a lamp or melting pot has led many to reject this.^[1] Etymonline suggests that the first element might be Middle High German kruse (“earthen pot”), or else a connection with the cross through some supposed likeness.^[3] The MLW compares Old French croisel, Spanish crisol and Old High German krusul, and refers to Corominas for the disputed origin.^[2]

Du Cange quotes the medieval lexicographer Ugutio, who explained the night lamp as one that “tortures” the ⟨bolum⟩, and adds ⟨risum contine⟩ (“hold back your laughter”).^[4]

Earliest recorded meaning

The MLW's first record is in Hildegard of Bingen's Physica, which tells the reader to warm wine in a pan or in a crucibulum, a vessel for heating.^[2][5]

Semantic evolution

Medieval Latin used it for two things: a night lamp and a crucible, a vessel for melting metals, the second mostly in alchemical texts.^[6][2][1] Glossaries render the lamp sense with Old French “lumiere de nuit”.^[4] The spelling varied widely (crucibolum, crusibulum, crusibolum).^[5][2] In Neo-Latin it was the chemist's melting pot, and Wimpheling listed the variant crusibulus among words that the unlearned use as if they were Latin.^[7]

English borrowed it in the early 15th century as crusible, a vessel for melting in chemistry; the figurative sense of a severe trial dates from the 1640s.^[3]

Timeline

• second half of the 12th century – Hildegard of Bingen uses it for a vessel in which wine is warmed.^[2][5]
• c. 1215 – Recorded in British medieval Latin.^[5]
• early 15th century – Borrowed into English as crusible.^[3]

Meanings

Noun

1. (Medieval Latin) A crucible, a pot for melting metals.^[6][2][1]
2. (Medieval Latin) A night lamp.^[6][2][4]

Related words

• English crucible

References

1. ^ a b c d e f g h Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
2. ^ a b c d e f g h Mittellateinisches Wörterbuch bis zum ausgehenden 13. Jahrhundert (1967–), Munich: C. H. Beck; Bayerische Akademie der Wissenschaften
3. ^ a b c Harper, Douglas. Online Etymology Dictionary, https://www.etymonline.com
4. ^ a b c du Cange, Charles du Fresne, et al. (1883–1887), Glossarium mediae et infimae latinitatis, augmented ed. by Léopold Favre, Niort: L. Favre
5. ^ a b c d Köbler, Gerhard (2010), Lateinisches Abkunfts- und Wirkungswörterbuch für Altertum und Mittelalter, online ed., koeblergerhard.de
6. ^ a b c Niermeyer, J. F. (1976), Mediae Latinitatis Lexicon Minus, Leiden: Brill
7. ^ Ramminger, Johann, Neulateinische Wortliste: Ein Wörterbuch des Lateinischen von Petrarca bis 1700, www.neulatein.de