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matella

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Etymology and origin of the Latin word matella

Confidence
Established
Formation
Derivation
First attested
234–149 BC, Cato
Ultimate origin
Latin (matula)

Pronunciation

  • Classical: [maˈtɛl.la][1]
  • Ecclesiastical: [maˈtɛl.la][1]

Forms

matella f (genitive matellae); first declension[1] Lewis & Short also give the spelling matēla.[2]

Etymology

It is from Latin matula (“vessel, pot”) + -la, a diminutive.[3][4][1] The origin of matula is uncertain.[3][5][1]

Earliest recorded meaning

Cato lists it among the vessels needed for an olive yard and a vineyard.[4][2] Lewis & Short also cite a fragment of Plautus quoted by Nonius, matella aquae.[2]

Semantic evolution

In general it is a pot or vessel for liquids;[3][4] Nonius explains it as a water vessel.[4] More often it is a chamber pot: Varro has the Chian wine jars of the rich brought back to the common chamber pot,[3] and it appears in Seneca, Petronius, Martial and Juvenal.[3] Martial's matellam praestāre, to hand someone the chamber pot, stands for the lowest service,[2][6] and in Petronius mūs in matellā, a mouse in the pot, is said of someone in a fix.[2][6] Petronius also uses it as an insult for a woman.[3][2] A glossary explains it as the kind of vessel the ancients urinated in,[4] and in medieval British Latin it means a chamber pot.[7]

Timeline

  • 234–149 BC – Cato, among farm vessels.[4][2][5]
  • 116–27 BC – Varro, of a chamber pot.[3][5]
  • before 66 AD – Petronius has the proverb mūs in matellā.[2][5]
  • 40–102/103 AD – Martial, of a chamber pot.[3][5]

Meanings

Noun

  1. A pot, vessel for liquids.[3][2][1]
  2. A chamber pot.[3][2][1]
  3. (figurative, insulting) Of a woman: a loose woman.[3][6]

Word family

  • matelliō
  • matula

References

  1. ^ a b c d e f g Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
  2. ^ a b c d e f g h i j Lewis, Charlton T.; Short, Charles (1879), A Latin Dictionary, Oxford: Clarendon Press
  3. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k Glare, P. G. W., ed. (2012), Oxford Latin Dictionary, 2nd ed., Oxford: Oxford University 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 e Köbler, Gerhard (2010), Lateinisches Abkunfts- und Wirkungswörterbuch für Altertum und Mittelalter, online ed., koeblergerhard.de
  6. ^ a b c Georges, Karl Ernst (1913–1918), Ausführliches lateinisch-deutsches Handwörterbuch, 8th ed., ed. Heinrich Georges, Hannover; Leipzig: Hahn
  7. ^ 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

“Matella.” Etymologically, 20 Oct. 2026, etymologically.com/la/matella. Accessed 20 Oct. 2026.

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