LATIN DICTIONARYLexicon Latīnum
noun · masculinesecond declension

cantharus

cantharus m (genitive cantharī)
Classical[ˈkan.tʰa.rʊs]Ecclesiastical[ˈkan.ta.rus]

Meaning

  1. masculinea large drinking vessel with handles hanging down, tankard
  2. masculinea kind of sea-fish, possibly a black seabream (Spondyliosoma cantharus)
  3. masculinea lug of a water-pipe in the form of a tankard
    a. 224, Dig. 30, 1, 41, § 11 Ulpianus libro vicesimo primo ad Sabinum Sed automataria aut siquis canthari, per quos aquae saliunt, poterunt legari, maxime si impositicii sunt.But if water machines or water-noses through which water springs can be legated then the like if they are attached.

Choosing the right word Döderlein's Latin Synonyms

Poculum · Calix · Scyphus · Simpuvium · Cyathus · Crater

1. Poculum and calix denote, as old Latin words, any sort of drinking vessel, merely with reference to its use; poculum, a usual cup for meals; calix, a rarer chalice, or goblet, for feasts; whereas scyphus, cantharus, cymbium, culigna, are foreign words, of Greek origin, denoting particular sorts of cups, with reference to their form. 2. Poculum, etc. all serve as drinking cups; whereas the old Roman word simpuvium, and the modern cyathus, are ladles to fill the pocula from the crater, as with the punch-ladle we fill the punch-glasses from the punch-bowl. (v. 318.)

Declension

declension
formsingularplural
nominativecantharuscantharī
genitivecantharīcantharōrum
dativecantharōcantharīs
accusativecantharumcantharōs
ablativecantharōcantharīs
vocativecantharecantharī

canthărus, i, m., = κάνθαρος.
I. Lit., a large, wide-bellied drinking-vessel with handles, a tankard, pot (very frequent in Plaut.), Plaut. As. 5, 2, 56; id. Bacch. 1, 1, 36; id. Men. 1, 2, 64; 1, 3, 5; id. Most. 1, 4, 33; id. Ps. 4, 2, 2; 4, 4, 13; 5, 1, 34; id. Pers. 5, 2, 22; 5, 2, 40; id. Rud. 5, 2, 32; id. Stich. 5, 4, 23; 5, 4, 48; Hor. C. 1, 20, 2; id. Ep. 1, 5, 23 al.—Esp. used by Bacchus and his followers, as scyphus, by Hercules, Verg. E. 6, 17 Voss; Macr. S. 5, 21, 14; Arn. 6, 25. —Hence Marius was reproached, because, after the conquest of the Cimbri, he drank from the cantharus like a triumphing Bacchus, Plin. 33, 11, 53, § 150; Val. Max. 3, 6, n. 6.—Gr. acc. cantharon, Nemes. Ecl. 3, 48. —
II. Transf.
A. A water-pipe, Dig. 30, 41, § 11; Inscr. Grut. 182, 2.—
B. In eccl. Lat., a vessel of holy water, Paul. Nol. 37, 150 (v. Quicherat ad loc.).—
C. A kind of sea-fish, Ov. Hal. 103; Plin. 32, 11, 53, § 146; Col. 8, 7, 14.—
D. A black spot or wart under the tongue of the Egyptian Apis, Plin. 8, 46, 71, § 184.

Origins

Borrowed from Ancient Greek κάνθαρος (kántharos).

Elsewhere
  • Italiancantero
  • Catalancàntar
  • Englishcantharus
  • Frenchcanthare
  • Italiancantaro
  • Portuguesecântaro
  • Spanishcántaro
  • Galiciancântaro
Serbo-Croatian
  • Cyrillic scriptка̏нта̄р
  • Latin scriptkȁntār

In the Academy Smith's classical dictionaries

AntiquitiesCantharusCantharus (κάνθαρος) is the name of a kind of boat--of what shape we do not know (Aristoph. Peace 143, and ap. Ath. 473d)--and also of a drinking vess…

Quick answers

What does cantharus mean in Latin?
cantharus, a noun, means “a large drinking vessel with handles hanging down, tankard; a kind of sea-fish, possibly a black seabream (Spondyliosoma cantharus); a lug of a water-pipe in the form of a tankard”.
What is the genitive of cantharus?
The genitive singular is cantharī. cantharus is masculine, second declension.
How do you pronounce cantharus?
In classical Latin, [ˈkan.tʰa.rʊs]; in ecclesiastical (church) Latin, [ˈkan.ta.rus].