urceolus

Forms

urceolus m (genitive urceolī); second declension^[1] The glossaries also have neuter urceolum, urciolum and orciolum.^[2]

Etymology

It is from Latin urceus (“pitcher, jug”) + -olus,^[3][1][4] a diminutive.^[4][1] The OLD calls urceus a loanword related to Ancient Greek ὕρχη (húrkhē, “jar”),^[3][5] while Wiktionary derives it from orca (“tun, cask”).^[1]

Earliest recorded meaning

Varro is the earliest author,^[5][2] in a fragment of his work on the life of the Roman people quoted by Nonius.^[2] He uses it for a small pitcher or jug.^[3][2]

Semantic evolution

In the 1st century AD it was an ordinary household word: Columella has a pitch-coated urceolus,^[2][4] and Juvenal lists urceolī with basins, a frying pan and chamber pots.^[2][4]

In medieval Latin it kept the sense of a small jug or ewer, and in the liturgy it named the cruet.^[6]

Timeline

• 116–27 BC – Varro uses it for a small pitcher.^[2][5]
• 1st century AD – Columella mentions a pitch-coated jug.^[2][5]
• c. 67–c. 127 AD – Juvenal mentions six little jugs.^[2][4][5]

Meanings

Noun

1. A small pitcher or jug.^[3][4]
2. (Medieval Latin) A small ewer; in liturgical use, a cruet.^[6]

Word family

• urceolāris

Related words

• urceus

References

1. ^ a b c d e f Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
2. ^ a b c d e f g h i Georges, Karl Ernst (1913–1918), Ausführliches lateinisch-deutsches Handwörterbuch, 8th ed., ed. Heinrich Georges, Hannover; Leipzig: Hahn
3. ^ a b c d Glare, P. G. W., ed. (2012), Oxford Latin Dictionary, 2nd ed., Oxford: Oxford University Press
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
6. ^ a b 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