mulctrum

Forms

mulctrum n (genitive mulctrī); second declension^[1] Manuscripts also spell it with ⟨ltr⟩, ⟨lcr⟩ or ⟨lchr⟩.^[2]

Etymology

It is formed from Latin mulgeō (“to milk”) + -trum, with the suffix of instrument nouns.^[3][1] De Vaan, who treats it with the feminine mulctra, finds that it was not built on the present stem of the verb but continues an older formation from the root.^[4] The verb goes back to Proto-Italic *molgeje- and Proto-Indo-European *h₂mlǵ-eie- (“to milk”).^[4]

Earliest recorded meaning

Horace (65–8 BC)^[5] has the plural in the Epodes: illic iniussae veniunt ad mulctra capellae, “there the she-goats come to the milking pails unbidden”.^[6]

Semantic evolution

The word kept its single meaning, a milking pail.^[3][6] The TLL finds the neuter plural mulctra only in poetry, from Horace on (Calpurnius Siculus, Valerius Flaccus, Nemesianus, Prudentius), and the neuter singular only in Isidore of Seville.^[2]

Timeline

• 65–8 BC – Horace uses the plural mulctra for milking pails.^[6][5]
• 1st century AD – Calpurnius Siculus uses it in his eclogues.^[6][5]
• end of 1st century AD – Valerius Flaccus uses it.^[6][5]
• 348/49–c. 413 AD – Prudentius uses it in a hymn.^[6][5]
• c. 560–636 AD – Isidore of Seville has the neuter singular.^[2][5]

Meanings

Noun

1. A milking pail.^[3][6]

Word family

• mulctrārium

Related words

• mulctra
• mulgeō

Usage notes

The feminine mulctra has the same meaning and is found from Virgil on, in poetry and in prose.^[2][4] The ancient commentator Servius already discusses the two genders.^[2]

References

1. ^ a b c d Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
2. ^ a b c d e Thesaurus linguae Latinae (1900–), Leipzig: Teubner; Berlin: De Gruyter; open-access ed., Munich: Bayerische Akademie der Wissenschaften
3. ^ a b c Glare, P. G. W., ed. (2012), Oxford Latin Dictionary, 2nd ed., Oxford: Oxford University Press
4. ^ a b c de Vaan, Michiel (2008), Etymological Dictionary of Latin and the other Italic Languages, Leiden Indo-European Etymological Dictionary Series 7, Leiden; Boston: Brill
5. ^ a b c d e f Köbler, Gerhard (2010), Lateinisches Abkunfts- und Wirkungswörterbuch für Altertum und Mittelalter, online ed., koeblergerhard.de
6. ^ a b c d e f g Lewis, Charlton T.; Short, Charles (1879), A Latin Dictionary, Oxford: Clarendon Press