proper noun · feminine
Mōstellāria
Mōstellāria f
Classical[moːs.tɛlˈlaː.ri.a]Ecclesiastical[mos.telˈlaː.ri.a]
Meaning
- the name of a play by Plautus
Plautus in Parasito pigro: "ambo magna laude lauti, postremo ambo sumus non nauci." Item in Mostellaria: "Quod id esse dicam verbum nauci, nescio."
1839 [8th century CE], Paulus Diaconus, edited by Karl Otfried Müller, Excerpta ex libris Pompeii Festi De significatione verborum, page 166, line 14:
Declension
| form | singular | plural |
|---|---|---|
| nominative | Mostellaria | — |
| genitive | Mostellariae | — |
| dative | Mostellariae | — |
| accusative | Mostellariam | — |
| ablative | Mostellariā | — |
| vocative | Mostellaria | — |
Mostellārĭa, ae, f. mostellum, dim. from monstrum,
I. The Ghost, the name of a comedy of Plautus, also called Phasma (φάσμα, ghost).
Origins
Perhaps an ellipsis of mōstellāria fābula f (“ghost story”), from *mōstellum + -ārius (suffix forming relational adjectives), from mōnstrum (“monstrosity, portent”) + -lus (diminutive suffix), with simplification of -ns- to -s- (a common pronunciation change among Latin speakers). De Vaan gives the pre-form as *mone-stro-lāri-.