Etymologically
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scutra

Etymology and origin of the Latin word scutra

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Confidence
Uncertain
First attested
Plautus
Etymology tree
inherited borrowed derived
Latin scutra
Latin scutella
English scuttle

Pronunciation

  • IPA (Classical): [ˈskʊ.tra][1]
  • IPA (Ecclesiastical): [ˈskuː.tra][1]

Forms

scutra f (genitive scutrae); first declension[1]

Etymology

Its origin is unclear.[2][3][4] A link with scūtum “shield” seems possible, since an upturned shield could serve as a dish, but a suffix -ra would be an unusual way to form a noun from it, so de Vaan thinks it may be a loanword.[2][1] Walde and Hofmann took the variant scūta as a back-formation from scutella, with its long /ū/ from scūtum.[2]

Earliest recorded meaning

De Vaan dates it from Plautus.[2][5] Köbler dates Plautus c. 250–184 BC.[4]

Semantic evolution

It meant a shallow dish or pan, a flat tray or platter, used in cooking in Cato's recipes.[3][6] Lucilius has the variant scūta, and the Vulgate uses it of the vessels of Solomon's temple.[6] Its diminutives were scutella “small dish” and scutula.[2]

Through scutella and Old English scutel it is the source of English scuttle “dish, basket”, and of French écuelle and Italian scodella.[7]

Timeline

  • c. 250–184 BC – Plautus uses it.[5][4]
  • 234–149 BC – Cato uses it in a recipe.[6][4]
  • 390–406 AD – The Vulgate uses it of temple vessels.[6][4]

Meanings

Noun

  1. A shallow dish, pan, platter.[3][6]

Word family

References

  1. ^ a b c d Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
  2. ^ a b c d e de Vaan, Michiel (2008), Etymological Dictionary of Latin and the other Italic Languages, Leiden Indo-European Etymological Dictionary Series 7, Leiden; Boston: Brill
  3. ^ a b c Glare, P. G. W., ed. (2012), Oxford Latin Dictionary, 2nd ed., Oxford: Oxford University Press
  4. ^ a b c d e Köbler, Gerhard (2010), Lateinisches Abkunfts- und Wirkungswörterbuch für Altertum und Mittelalter, online ed., koeblergerhard.de
  5. ^ a b Gaffiot, Félix (2016), Dictionnaire latin-français, new ed. by Gérard Gréco et al. (Gaffiot 2016), online ed.
  6. ^ a b c d e Lewis, Charlton T.; Short, Charles (1879), A Latin Dictionary, Oxford: Clarendon Press
  7. ^ Harper, Douglas. Online Etymology Dictionary, https://www.etymonline.com

Derived terms

Cite this entry

“Scutra.” Etymologically, 16 Oct. 2026, etymologically.com/la/scutra. Accessed 16 Oct. 2026.

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