situla

Forms

situla f (genitive situlae); first declension^[1] A masculine situlus is used by Cato and Vitruvius.^[2]

Etymology

The origin is uncertain: the OLD calls it doubtful and Köbler unclear.^[3][4] Wiktionary suggests that it may share a Proto-Indo-European root with Lithuanian si̇́etas (“sieve”) and Middle Irish sithlad (“the act of sieving”).^[1]

Earliest recorded meaning

It is found in Plautus, in the Amphitruo, for a bucket used to draw water from a well: the speaker threatens that once he has a bucket he will draw all the life out of the well.^[3]

Semantic evolution

Plautus also uses it in the Casina for the urn from which lots were drawn, a sense in which sitella is the usual word.^[3] Pliny the Elder uses it of a basin on a tomb in which rainwater stood.^[3]

In Ecclesiastical Latin it was the vessel that held holy water.^[1] Medieval Latin used it, confused with siclus, for a measure of liquids.^[5][1]

Timeline

• c. 250–184 BC – Plautus uses it for a well bucket and for an urn for drawing lots.^[3][4]
• 23/24–79 AD – Pliny the Elder uses it of a basin on a monument.^[3][4]

Meanings

Noun

1. A bucket or pail, especially one for drawing water from a well.^[3][2][6]
2. An urn from which lots were drawn; compare sitella.^[3]
3. A basin or urn on a monument.^[3]
4. (Ecclesiastical Latin) A vessel for holy water.^[1]
5. (Medieval Latin) A measure of capacity for liquids.^[5][1]

Word family

• sitella
• situlārius

References

1. ^ a b c d e f g h Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
2. ^ a b Lewis, Charlton T.; Short, Charles (1879), A Latin Dictionary, Oxford: Clarendon Press
3. ^ a b c d e f g h i Glare, P. G. W., ed. (2012), Oxford Latin Dictionary, 2nd ed., Oxford: Oxford University Press
4. ^ a b c Köbler, Gerhard (2010), Lateinisches Abkunfts- und Wirkungswörterbuch für Altertum und Mittelalter, online ed., koeblergerhard.de
5. ^ a b Niermeyer, J. F. (1976), Mediae Latinitatis Lexicon Minus, Leiden: Brill
6. ^ Stelten, Leo F. (1995), Dictionary of Ecclesiastical Latin, Peabody, Mass.: Hendrickson