urceus

Forms

urceus m (genitive urceī); second declension^[1] Cato has a neuter urceum.^[2]

Etymology

It is a loanword, from Ancient Greek ὕρχη (húrkhē, “earthenware jar”) or from the same source.^[3][4] Köbler describes the Greek word as a clay vessel for salting fish, and thinks both words came from a Mediterranean language.^[5] The OLD compares orca (“large jar”) and urna (“urn”),^[3] and Wiktionary derives it from orca.^[1]

Earliest recorded meaning

Köbler dates it from Plautus;^[5] it is in the Miles gloriosus.^[2]

Semantic evolution

It is a vessel for holding or pouring liquids, a pitcher or jug.^[3][2] Cato, Horace, Pliny the Elder, Columella and Martial use it, and Martial and Vitruvius speak of earthenware ones.^[2][4] Church Latin has it as a jug or earthenware container.^[6] In British medieval texts it is a pitcher or ewer, from Bede on, and in the liturgy a cruet for the altar.^[7]

Timeline

• c. 250–184 BC – Plautus.^[2][5]
• 234–149 BC – Cato, in the neuter form.^[2][5]
• 65–8 BC – Horace.^[2][5]
• Medieval Latin – A cruet used at the altar.^[7]

Meanings

Noun

1. A pitcher, jug, ewer.^[3][2][1]
2. (Medieval Latin) A cruet for the altar.^[7]

Word family

• urceātim
• urceolus

Related words

• orca
• urna

References

1. ^ a b c Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
2. ^ a b c d e f g h Lewis, Charlton T.; Short, Charles (1879), A Latin Dictionary, Oxford: Clarendon Press
3. ^ a b c d Glare, P. G. W., ed. (2012), Oxford Latin Dictionary, 2nd ed., Oxford: Oxford University Press
4. ^ a b Georges, Karl Ernst (1913–1918), Ausführliches lateinisch-deutsches Handwörterbuch, 8th ed., ed. Heinrich Georges, Hannover; Leipzig: Hahn
5. ^ a b c d e Köbler, Gerhard (2010), Lateinisches Abkunfts- und Wirkungswörterbuch für Altertum und Mittelalter, online ed., koeblergerhard.de
6. ^ Stelten, Leo F. (1995), Dictionary of Ecclesiastical Latin, Peabody, Mass.: Hendrickson
7. ^ a b c 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