cucuma

Meaning

1. femininefor cooking
   Mox incincta quadrato pallio cucumam ingentem foco apposuit, simulque pannum de carnario detulit furca, in quo faba erat ad usum reposita et sincipitis vetustissima particula mille plagis dolata.After girthing herself with a rectangular apron she put a vast cauldron to the fire, and at the same time she put down a rag from the smoke chamber, in which beans were stored for use as well as a bit of a head-half cut with thousand strikes.c. 27 CE – 66 CE, Petronius, Satyricon 135.4
2. femininefor bathing
   Torquātus nitidās variō dē marmore thermāsTorquatus put forth brilliant thermae from various marble; Otacilius made a cauldron.c. 100 CE, Martial, Epigrammaton 10.79.3–4

Declension

Origins

Since this word, as Ancient Greek κούκκουμα (koúkkouma), diminutive κουκκούμιον (koukkoúmion), is attested from the 1ˢᵗ century CE, when the Roman Empire was at its greatest extent, there is little to doubt that this is identical to Classical Syriac ܩܘܿܩܡܳܐ (qūqəmā, “pot”), absolute state ܩܘܿܩܽܡ (qūqum), if not directly borrowed from it, from Imperial Aramaic 𐡒𐡅𐡒𐡌 (qwqm), from Akkadian 𒂁𒆪𒆪𒁍 (/⁠kukkubu, quqquba⁠/, “a smaller container used as an alabastron, libation jar, or drinking flask; originally a drinking pouch made from an animal’s stomach, any similar pouch with a small opening”), considered possibly a loan or developed from Sumerian 𒂁𒃻𒋫𒆸 (/⁠gugguru⁠/, “tall earthen vessel with a narrow opening”). Via Aramaic קוּמְקְמָא (qumqəmā, “boiling kettle”) it has also been borrowed into Arabic قُمْقُم (qumqum, “bulbous flask with a neck used for dispersing perfume”) and Middle Persian [Book Pahlavi needed] (KWKMʾ), Persian قمقمه (qomqome). The vowel length in Latin is however short in the first syllable contrary to the Syriac, likely because of coarticulation or because of secondary relation to coquō (“to cook”). This vowel shortening and a Syriac borrowing of a vessel name also has its parallel in the Latin word culullus denoting a kind of bumper or chalice.

Related words