LATIN DICTIONARYLexicon Latīnum
noun · femininefirst declension

patera

patera f (genitive paterae)

Meaning

  1. feminineA broad, flat dish, saucer, bowl, or vessel, used especially for libations during a religious rite or sacrifice
    Ipsa, tenēns dextrā pateram, pulcherrima Dīdō candentis vaccae media inter cornua fundit, [...].Most beautiful Dido herself, holding the [ritual] vessel in her right [hand], pours [a libation] in-between the horns of a pure white cow [before it is sacrificed to the gods]. (See: Patera.)29 BCE – 19 BCE, Vergilius, Aeneis 4.60-61

Latīnē defined in Latin in our graded readers

pōculum lātum et apertum sacrōrum
patera -ae (f) — in Metamorphoses I, ch. 18

Declension

declension
formsingularplural
nominativepaterapaterae
genitivepateraepaterārum
dativepateraepaterīs
accusativepaterampaterās
ablativepaterāpaterīs
vocativepaterapaterae

pătĕra, ae, f. pateo,
I. a broad, flat dish or saucer, used esp. in offerings; a libationsaucer or bowl (cf.: simpulum, simpuvium), Varr. L. L. 5, § 122 Müll.; cf. Macr. S. 5, 21: aurea, Plaut. Am. 1, 1, 104; 2, 2, 128: humani corporis sanguinem in pateris circumtulisse, Sall. C. 22, 1: Themistoclem aiunt, cum taurum immolavisset, excepisse sanguinem paterā, etc., Cic. Brut. 11, 43: vinaque marmoreas paterā fundebat in aras, Ov. M. 9, 160; Hor. S. 1, 6, 118: pateris libare et auro, golden cups, Verg. G. 2, 192: pateram perplovere in sacris cum dicitur significat pertusam esse, Fest. p. 250 Müll.

Origins

Apparently a nominal formation from pateō (“to be open, gape”).

Descendants
  • Catalanplàtera
  • Englishpatera

In English words that came into English from patera

  • paellapatella
  • paterapatera
  • patellapatella
  • patresspatera
  • patellulapatellula

In the Academy Smith's classical dictionaries

AntiquitiesPateraPatera (φιάλη), a round shallow vessel like a large saucer, but somewhat deeper than our ordinary saucer. Varro (L. L. 5.122) and Macrobius (Macr. 5.2…

Quick answers

What does patera mean in Latin?
patera, a noun, means “A broad, flat dish, saucer, bowl, or vessel, used especially for libations during a religious rite or sacrifice”.
What is the genitive of patera?
The genitive singular is paterae. patera is feminine, first declension.
Which English words come from patera?
English words that go back to Latin patera include patera, patress, paella, patella and patellula.