Etymologically

pultarius

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Forms

pultārius m (genitive pultāriī or pultārī); second declension[1] The spellings pultōrius and pultūrius occur in manuscripts, and glosses have a neuter pultārium.[2]

Etymology

It is from Latin puls (“porridge”) + -ārius,[1][3][2] and so originally a vessel for making porridge.[3][2] The TLL compares Spanish puchero.[2]

Earliest recorded meaning

It is first found in Celsus,[4] for a small vessel applied to the skin in place of a cupping glass.[3][2]

Semantic evolution

Although named after porridge, the word is recorded only for earthenware vessels used in other ways: a cup in Petronius and Pliny the Elder, jars for keeping grapes in Columella, and a pan of coals for fumigation in Palladius.[3][2][5] Celsus, Columella and the inscriptions treat it as masculine; the glosses have a neuter form.[2]

Timeline

  • AD 14–37 – Celsus uses it for a vessel used in cupping.[3][2][4]
  • 1st century AD – Columella describes grapes stored in such vessels.[3][2][4]
  • before AD 66 – Petronius uses it for a cup.[3][5][4]
  • AD 23/24–79 – Pliny the Elder uses it for a cup of warm drink.[3][5][4]
  • late 4th or early 5th century AD – Palladius uses it for a pan of coals.[3][5][4]

Meanings

Noun

  1. A pot, originally one for cooking porridge; an earthenware vessel.[1][3]
  2. A cup or vessel for drinks.[3][5]
  3. A jar for preserving grapes.[3][5]
  4. A pan of coals used for fumigation.[3][5]
  5. A cupping glass.[3][5]

Usage notes

Medieval pultarius in Niermeyer and the DMLBS is a form of pulletārius (poulterer), which has a separate source.[6][7]

References

  1. ^ a b c Glare, P. G. W., ed. (2012), Oxford Latin Dictionary, 2nd ed., Oxford: Oxford University Press
  2. ^ a b c d e f g h i Thesaurus linguae Latinae (1900–), Leipzig: Teubner; Berlin: De Gruyter; open-access ed., Munich: Bayerische Akademie der Wissenschaften
  3. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m n Lewis, Charlton T.; Short, Charles (1879), A Latin Dictionary, Oxford: Clarendon Press
  4. ^ a b c d e f Köbler, Gerhard (2010), Lateinisches Abkunfts- und Wirkungswörterbuch für Altertum und Mittelalter, online ed., koeblergerhard.de
  5. ^ a b c d e f g h Conte, Gian Biagio; Pianezzola, Emilio; Ranucci, Giuliano (2010), il Latino: Vocabolario della lingua latina, 3rd ed., Florence: Le Monnier
  6. ^ Niermeyer, J. F. (1976), Mediae Latinitatis Lexicon Minus, Leiden: Brill
  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