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cupula

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Etymology and origin of the Latin word cupula

cupula1 small cask

Confidence
Established
Formation
Derivation
First attested
223 before 223 AD, Ulpian
Ultimate origin
Latin cūpa
Etymology tree of cupula1
inherited borrowed derived
Latin cūpa
Spanish cuba
Latin cūpula
From the same root · cupula1
Latin cūpārius ← cūpa
Latin cuppa ← cūpa

Pronunciation

  • Classical: [ˈkuː.pʊ.ɫa][1]
  • Ecclesiastical: [ˈkuː.pu.la][1]

Forms

cūpula f (genitive cūpulae); first declension[1] cuppula appears in the Digest.[2] A contracted cupla appears in an African inscription.[3]

Etymology

The word for the small cask is formed from Latin cūpa (“cask, tub”) + -ula, as a diminutive.[2][4][1]

Earliest recorded meaning

It is first found in the jurist Ulpian, who holds that wine in casks or small casks is owed under a legacy of wine.[2][4][5]

Semantic evolution

Besides a small cask or tub, it named a niche in a columbarium and a small burial vault in inscriptions, as cupa did.[2][3][4] Medieval British Latin used it for the cup of an acorn.[6]

Timeline

  • before 223 AD – Ulpian uses it for a small wine cask.[2][5]

Meanings

Noun

  1. A small cask or tub.[2][3]
  2. A niche in a columbarium; a small burial vault.[2][3]
  3. (Medieval Latin) The cup of an acorn.[6]

cupula2 small handle

Confidence
Established
Formation
Derivation
First attested
234–149 BC Cato
Ultimate origin
Latin cūpa
Etymology tree of cupula2
inherited borrowed derived
Latin cūpa
Spanish cuba
Latin cūpula
From the same root · cupula2
Latin cūpārius ← cūpa
Latin cuppa ← cūpa

Pronunciation

  • Classical: [ˈkuː.pʊ.ɫa][1]
  • Ecclesiastical: [ˈkuː.pu.la][1]

Forms

cūpula f (genitive cūpulae); first declension[1]

Etymology

The word for the small handle is formed from Latin cūpa (“bar of an oil mill”) + -ula, as a diminutive of the second ⟨cūpa⟩,[2][4][1] which the OLD takes from Ancient Greek κώπη (kṓpē, “handle”).[2]

Earliest recorded meaning

It is found only in Cato, in his directions for building an oil mill, of the small handles fitted into its holes.[2][4][5]

Timeline

  • 234–149 BC – Cato uses it for the small handles of an oil mill.[2][5]

Meanings

Noun

  1. A small handle, part of an oil mill.[2][3][4]

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 i j k l Glare, P. G. W., ed. (2012), Oxford Latin Dictionary, 2nd ed., Oxford: Oxford University Press
  3. ^ a b c d e Lewis, Charlton T.; Short, Charles (1879), A Latin Dictionary, Oxford: Clarendon Press
  4. ^ a b c d e f 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 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
Cite this entry

“Cupula.” Etymologically, 13 Nov. 2026, etymologically.com/la/cupula. Accessed 14 Nov. 2026.

Last edited on . ·