Etymologically
Log in

rutabulum

This is the current revision of this entry, as edited by bogdan on 23 October 2026 at 15:05. This address is a permanent link to this version.
Changes in this edit History

Pronunciation

  • Classical: [rʊˈtaː.bʊ.ɫũː][1]
  • Ecclesiastical: [ruˈtaː.bu.lum][1]

Forms

rutābulum n (genitive rutābulī); second declension[1]

Etymology

It is from Latin ruō (“to dig up, rake”), through an unattested frequentative *rutō, with the instrument suffix -bulum.[2][1] De Vaan files it under the verb meaning “to dig”, which he traces to Proto-Indo-European *(H)reuH- (“to tear out, dig”); he notes that its derivatives and those of the verb meaning “to rush” have become mixed up.[3]

Cognates of the root include Lithuanian ráuti (“to tear out”) and Old Norse rýja (“to tear out wool”).[3]

Earliest recorded meaning

Cato (234–149 BC) lists it in De agri cultura among the equipment of a farm; it was a long tool with a flattened end for moving the coals in an oven.[2][4][5]

Semantic evolution

An ancient explanation describes it as the tool country people used to rake the fire when baking bread, and it appears in a comedy of Novius and in Suetonius.[2][4] Columella uses it for a wooden paddle to stir thick liquids such as pitch.[2][4]

Timeline

  • 234–149 BC – Cato lists it among farm tools.[2][5]
  • 1st century BC – Novius uses it in a comedy.[2][5]
  • 1st century AD – Columella, of a wooden paddle for pitch.[2][5]
  • c. 75–c. 150 AD – Suetonius uses it.[4][5]

Meanings

Noun

  1. A fire rake or oven rake, for moving coals.[2][4]
  2. A wooden paddle or spatula for stirring thick liquids.[2][4][1]

References

  1. ^ a b c d e Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
  2. ^ a b c d e f g h i Glare, P. G. W., ed. (2012), Oxford Latin Dictionary, 2nd ed., Oxford: Oxford University Press
  3. ^ a b de Vaan, Michiel (2008), Etymological Dictionary of Latin and the other Italic Languages, Leiden Indo-European Etymological Dictionary Series 7, Leiden; Boston: Brill
  4. ^ a b c d e f Lewis, Charlton T.; Short, Charles (1879), A Latin Dictionary, Oxford: Clarendon Press
  5. ^ a b c d e Köbler, Gerhard (2010), Lateinisches Abkunfts- und Wirkungswörterbuch für Altertum und Mittelalter, online ed., koeblergerhard.de