Etymologically
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urceolus

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Pronunciation

  • Classical: [ʊrˈke.ɔ.ɫʊs][1]
  • Ecclesiastical: [urˈt͡ʃɛː.o.lus][1]

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

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