cantharus Latin · revision 34290

+ {{infobox|confidence=established|formation=borrowing|attested=c. 250–184 BC, Plautus|origins=grc κάνθαρος}}

+

+ ==Pronunciation==

+ * Classical: [ˈkan.tʰa.rʊs]^(Wiktionary)

+ * Ecclesiastical: [ˈkan.ta.rus]^(Wiktionary)

+

+ ==Forms==

+ '''cantharus''' ''m'' (genitive cantharī); second declension^(Wiktionary)

+ It is also spelled ''cantarus''.^(Georges 1913)^(TLL)

+

+ ==Etymology==

+ It is [[bor|grc|κάνθαρος|tr=kántharos|t=beetle; drinking cup]].^(OLD 2012)^(Wiktionary)^(Saalfeld 1874)^(TLL) Köbler, after Frisk, says the further origin of the Greek word is unknown.^(Köbler 2010)

+

+ ==Earliest recorded meaning==

+ Köbler finds it first in Plautus,^(Köbler 2010) who uses it very often for a large drinking vessel with handles.^(Lewis & Short 1879)^(OLD 2012)

+

+ ==Semantic evolution==

+ In Plautus and later it is a large, wide-bellied drinking cup with handles reaching far down, a tankard, and it was the usual attribute of Bacchus.^(Lewis & Short 1879)^(Georges 1913) Döderlein counts it among the Greek words for particular kinds of cup, beside the old Latin [[pōculum]] and [[calix]].^(Döderlein 1874) In the jurist Ulpian it seems to be the basin of a fountain,^(OLD 2012)^(Conte 2010) and in Paulinus of Nola a basin for holy water.^(Conte 2010) It was also the name of a fish, the black sea bream,^(OLD 2012)^(Wiktionary) and Pliny the Elder says it was the name of a knot under the tongue of the Apis bull.^(OLD 2012)^(Conte 2010)

+

+ Church Latin used it for a large pitcher, a holy-water vessel or a well,^(Stelten 1995) medieval Latin for a dish holding candles, a candlestick,^(Niermeyer 1976) and for basins, funnels, lids and a beetle.^(MLW)

+

+ ==Timeline==

+ * c. 250–184 BC – Plautus uses it often for a drinking cup.^(Lewis & Short 1879)^(OLD 2012)^(Köbler 2010)

+ * 65–8 BC – Horace uses it.^(Conte 2010)^(Köbler 2010)

+ * 23/24–79 AD – Pliny the Elder uses it of a knot under the Apis bull's tongue.^(OLD 2012)^(Köbler 2010)

+ * before 223 AD – Ulpian uses it of the basin of a fountain.^(OLD 2012)^(Köbler 2010)

+ * c. 353–431 AD – Paulinus of Nola uses it of a holy-water basin.^(Conte 2010)^(Köbler 2010)

+ * Middle Ages – It also means a candlestick.^(Niermeyer 1976)

+

+ ==Meanings==

+ ===Noun===

+ # A large drinking vessel with handles, a [[m|en|tankard]].^(OLD 2012)^(Lewis & Short 1879)^(Wiktionary)

+ # The bowl or [[m|en|basin]] of a fountain;^(OLD 2012)^(Conte 2010) ''(Ecclesiastical Latin)'' a [[m|en|holy water|alt=holy-water]] vessel.^(Stelten 1995)^(Conte 2010)

+ # The black sea [[m|en|bream]].^(OLD 2012)^(Wiktionary)

+ # A knot under the tongue of the Apis bull.^(OLD 2012)^(Conte 2010)

+ # ''(Medieval Latin)'' A dish for candles, a [[m|en|candlestick]].^(Niermeyer 1976)

+

+ ==References==

+ {{reflist}}