noun · femininefirst declension
fidēlia
fidēlia f (genitive fidēliae)
Meaning
- An earthen vessel, a pot
Declension
| form | singular | plural |
|---|---|---|
| nominative | fidēlia | fidēliae |
| genitive | fidēliae | fidēliārum |
| dative | fidēliae | fidēliīs |
| accusative | fidēliam | fidēliās |
| ablative | fidēliā | fidēliīs |
| vocative | fidēlia | fidēliae |
fĭdēlĭa, ae, f.,
I. an earthen vessel, pot.
I. In gen., Col. 12, 58, 1; 12, 13, 2;
for wine: tumet alba fidelia vino, Pers. 3, 22; in paronomasia with Fides: O Fides, mulsi plenam faciam tibi fideliam, id. Aul. 4, 2, 15.—II. Esp., a pail of whitewash.— Prov.: de eadem fidelia duos parietes dealbare, i. e. to kill two birds with one stone, to reach two ends by one action, Cur. ap. Cic. Fam. 7, 29 fin.
Origins
According to Pokorny, from Proto-Indo-European *bʰidʰ- (“jar”), with Ancient Greek πίθος (píthos, “large wine jar, cask”) (also πίδος (pídos), φιδάκνη (phidáknē) etc.) and Old Norse biða (“milk pail”) as the only cognates outside of Latin, plus a possible relationship with Latin fiscus (“woven basket”). However, the unexpected variations in Greek, along with the suspiciously limited, noun-only root, could point to substrate or wanderwort origin, which is typical of words for neolithic cultural items in Indo-European.