phiala

Forms

phiala f (genitive phialae); first declension^[1]

Etymology

It is borrowed from Ancient Greek φιάλη (phiálē, “broad flat bowl”).^[2][1][3] Köbler and Etymonline describe the Greek word as a technical loanword of unknown origin.^[3][4]

Earliest recorded meaning

It is first found in the 1st century AD, in Petronius and Pliny the Elder,^[5][3] for a broad, shallow bowl for drinking or pouring, the same as the Latin patera.^[2][6]

Semantic evolution

In classical Latin it is a broad, flat drinking bowl or saucer, used by Juvenal and Martial;^[6][2] Pliny the Elder also says that a place in the Nile at Memphis is called Phiala from its shape.^[2] The TLL notes that it occurs in Petronius and Pliny, often in the Bible and in Christian writers, and in verse in Martial and Juvenal.^[7] In the Vulgate it is a censer,^[6][5] and Ecclesiastical Latin also used it of a small flask or vial.^[8]

From a learned form fiola come French fiole and Old Provençal fiola;^[7] Medieval Latin phiola and Old French fiole gave English phial and its variant vial in the late 14th century.^[4] Italian has fiala.^[5]

Timeline

• before 66 AD – Petronius uses it of a bowl.^[5][3]
• 23/24–79 AD – Pliny the Elder uses it of bowls and of a place in the Nile named after its shape.^[2][3]
• 40–102/103 AD – Martial uses it of drinking bowls.^[6][3]
• 390–406 AD – The Vulgate uses it of a censer.^[6][5][3]
• late 14th century – English borrows it through Medieval Latin and Old French as phial.^[4]

Meanings

Noun

1. A broad, shallow bowl for drinking or pouring, a saucer.^[2][6]
2. (Ecclesiastical Latin) A censer.^[6][5][8]
3. (Ecclesiastical Latin) A small flask, vial.^[8]

Related words

• patera
• English phial
• English vial

Usage notes

In Ovid Phiala (or Phialē) is the name of a nymph attending Diana.^[6]

References

1. ^ a b Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
2. ^ a b c d e f Glare, P. G. W., ed. (2012), Oxford Latin Dictionary, 2nd ed., Oxford: Oxford University Press
3. ^ a b c d e f g Köbler, Gerhard (2010), Lateinisches Abkunfts- und Wirkungswörterbuch für Altertum und Mittelalter, online ed., koeblergerhard.de
4. ^ a b c Harper, Douglas. Online Etymology Dictionary, https://www.etymonline.com
5. ^ a b c d e f Conte, Gian Biagio; Pianezzola, Emilio; Ranucci, Giuliano (2010), il Latino: Vocabolario della lingua latina, 3rd ed., Florence: Le Monnier
6. ^ a b c d e f g h Lewis, Charlton T.; Short, Charles (1879), A Latin Dictionary, Oxford: Clarendon Press
7. ^ a b Thesaurus linguae Latinae (1900–), Leipzig: Teubner; Berlin: De Gruyter; open-access ed., Munich: Bayerische Akademie der Wissenschaften
8. ^ a b c Stelten, Leo F. (1995), Dictionary of Ecclesiastical Latin, Peabody, Mass.: Hendrickson