Etymology and origin of the Latin word cymbium
- Confidence
- Established
- Formation
- Borrowing
- First attested
- 116–27 BC Varro More words from the 2nd century BC
- Borrowed from
- Ancient Greek κυμβίον
- Ultimate origin
- Ancient Greek κυμβίον
Forms
cymbium n (genitive cymbiī or cymbī); second declension[1]
Etymology
It is borrowed from Ancient Greek κυμβίον (kumbíon, “small cup”),[2][3][4] from κύμβη (kúmbē, “cup; boat”), the source of Latin cymba.[1] Ancient grammarians explained it as a cup named for its likeness to a boat (Festus in Paul's epitome), or as a diminutive of ⟨cymba⟩ (Macrobius).[5]
Earliest recorded meaning
Varro, quoted by Nonius, is the first to have it, for a small cup.[3][4]
Semantic evolution
It was a small boat-shaped cup, mostly for wine;[2][5] Virgil uses it twice in the Aeneid,[3] and Martial also has it.[3] Servius explains Virgil's cups as made in the shape of a boat.[5] Apuleius uses it for a lamp of the same shape.[3]
Timeline
- 116–27 BC – Varro uses it of a cup.[3][4]
- 70–19 BC – Virgil uses it in the Aeneid.[3][4]
- 40–102/103 AD – Martial uses it of a cup.[3][4]
- c. 125–175 AD – Apuleius uses it of a boat-shaped lamp.[3][4]
- first half of 5th century AD – Macrobius explains it as a diminutive of cymba.[5][4]
Meanings
Noun
Usage notes
Döderlein counts it among the Greek names of particular kinds of cup, beside scyphus and cantharus, as against the native poculum and calix, which name a drinking vessel by its use.[6]
References
- ^ a b c d Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
- ^ a b c Glare, P. G. W., ed. (2012), Oxford Latin Dictionary, 2nd ed., Oxford: Oxford University Press
- ^ a b c d e f g h i j k Lewis, Charlton T.; Short, Charles (1879), A Latin Dictionary, Oxford: Clarendon Press
- ^ a b c d e f g Köbler, Gerhard (2010), Lateinisches Abkunfts- und Wirkungswörterbuch für Altertum und Mittelalter, online ed., koeblergerhard.de
- ^ a b c d Thesaurus linguae Latinae (1900–), Leipzig: Teubner; Berlin: De Gruyter; open-access ed., Munich: Bayerische Akademie der Wissenschaften
- ^ Döderlein, Ludwig (1874), Döderlein’s Hand-book of Latin Synonymes, tr. H. H. Arnold, Andover: W. F. Draper
Related etymologies
- chromaticus · also from Greek
- catechismus · also from Greek
- carotides · also from Greek
- axioma · also from Greek
- atrophia · also from Greek
- archangelus · also from Greek
- apostasia · also from Greek
- apologeticus · also from Greek
Cite this entry
“Cymbium.” Etymologically, 13 Nov. 2026, etymologically.com/la/cymbium. Accessed 14 Nov. 2026.
Last edited on . ·