sacellum

Pronunciation

• Classical: [saˈkɛl.lũː]^[1]
• Ecclesiastical: [saˈt͡ʃɛl.lum]^[1]

Forms

sacellum n (genitive sacellī); second declension^[1]

Etymology

It is a diminutive, from Latin sacrum (“sacred place”) + -lum, from the neuter of sacer (“sacred”).^[2][3][1] De Vaan traces sacer to Proto-Italic *sakro- (“sacred”) and Proto-Indo-European *sh₂k-ro- (“sacred”), comparing Umbrian sacru and Oscan σακορο (sakoro).^[4]

Earliest recorded meaning

De Vaan dates it from Terence.^[4][2]

Semantic evolution

It is a shrine, a small place consecrated to a god.^[3][2] Trebatius, quoted by Gellius, defined it as a small place sacred to a god with an altar, and Festus as places consecrated to the gods without a roof.^[2] Döderlein contrasts it with templum, fanum and delubrum: a consecrated place without a building, with only an altar.^[5] Later it came to mean a chapel.^[1][6]

Timeline

• 190–159 BC – Terence.^[4][2][7]
• 81–43 BC – Cicero.^[7]
• c. 165 AD – Gellius quotes Trebatius' definition.^[2][7]

Meanings

Noun

1. A small shrine or sanctuary, usually open to the sky, with an altar.^[3][2][1]
2. A chapel.^[1][6]

Related words

• sacer

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 Lewis, Charlton T.; Short, Charles (1879), A Latin Dictionary, Oxford: Clarendon Press
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. ^ Döderlein, Ludwig (1874), Döderlein’s Hand-book of Latin Synonymes, tr. H. H. Arnold, Andover: W. F. Draper
6. ^ a b Stelten, Leo F. (1995), Dictionary of Ecclesiastical Latin, Peabody, Mass.: Hendrickson
7. ^ a b c Köbler, Gerhard (2010), Lateinisches Abkunfts- und Wirkungswörterbuch für Altertum und Mittelalter, online ed., koeblergerhard.de