noun · femininesecond declension
carbasus
carbasus f (genitive carbasī)
Meaning
- femininelinen, cambric, canvas
[...] vocat iam carbasus aurās, / puppibus et laetī nautae imposuēre corōnās.
“… already their canvas invites the winds, and the merry sailors have strung garlands on their ships.” (A poetic singular “carbasus” represents the fabric of all Trojan sails ready to leave Carthage.)29 BCE – 19 BCE, Vergilius, Aeneis 4.417–418 - femininesail, awning, curtain
Declension
| form | singular | plural |
|---|---|---|
| nominative | carbasus | carbasī |
| genitive | carbasī | carbasōrum |
| dative | carbasō | carbasīs |
| accusative | carbasum | carbasōs |
| ablative | carbasō | carbasīs |
| vocative | carbase | carbasī |
carbăsus, i, f. (m., Val. Max. 1, 1, 7;
I. acc. sing. n. carbasum leve, Pacat. Paneg. in Theod. 33); plur. heterocl. carbăsa, ōrum, n. (acc. m. carbasos supremos, Amm. 14, 8, 14), = κάρπασος [Heb. ; Sanscr. karpāsa, cotton], very fine Spanish flax (unwrought or woven), fine linen, cambric, Plin. 19, 1, 2, § 10; Cat. 64, 227; plur. carbasa, Col. 10, 17 (Bip. galbana).—
II. Transf., of things made of carbasus,
A. A fine linen garment, Verg. A. 8, 34 Serv.; cf. Non. p. 541, 13 sq.; Curt. 8, 9, 21; Val. Max. 1, 1, 7; cf. Prop. 4 (5), 11, 54.—In plur.:
carbasa, Ov. M. 11, 48; Luc. 3, 239; Val. Fl. 6, 225, and adj.: carbasa lina, Prop. 4 (5), 3, 64.— B. A curtain, Lucr. 6, 109.—
C. A sail, as the Engl. canvas, Enn. Ann. 560 Vahl.; Verg. A. 3, 357; 4, 417.—In plur., Ov. M. 6, 233; 11, 477; 13, 419; 14, 533; id. H. 7, 171; id. F. 3, 587; Luc. 3, 596 al.—
D. The Sibylline books, written upon linen, Claud. B. Get. 232.
Charlton Lewis's shorter dictionary for students: the same scholarship in plain, modern definitions.
carbasus ī, f plur. carbasa, ōrum, n
, κάρπασος, fine flax, fine linen, Ct.—Hence, a garment of fine linen, V.: carbasa, O. — A sail, canvas (poet.), V.: carbasa deducere, O. — As adj.: carbasa lina, embroidered cloth, Pr.
Origins
Borrowed from Ancient Greek κάρπασος (kárpasos, “cotton”), from Biblical Hebrew כַּרְפַּס (karpás, “fabric of cotton”), from Sanskrit कर्पास (karpāsa, “cotton”), though Mediterranean and Anatolic sources have also been suggested. The same Sanskrit word has resulted in gossypium (“cotton”).