LATIN DICTIONARYLexicon Latīnum
noun · femininefirst declension

sucula

sucula f (genitive suculae, masculine suculus)
Classical[ˈsʊ.kʊ.ɫa]Ecclesiastical[ˈsuː.ku.la]

Meaning

  1. diminutivefemininerareDiminutive of sūs (“pig”)
    Palaestra post sicilicula argenteola et duae conexae maniculae et / sucula. Gripus quin tu i dierecta, cum sucula et cum porculisPalaestra then a little silver sickle and two joined little hands and a winch [or "and a little sow"]. Gripus Go be hanged with your little sow and little piglets.c. 211 BCE, Plautus, Rudens 4.4.1170 (trochaic septenarius)
    suilla vel sucula, giltec. 998 CE, Ælfric of Eynsham, Grammar (as cited in DMLBS)
  2. femininewinch, windlass, capstan (or similar device)

Declension

declension
formsingularplural
nominativesuculasuculae
genitivesuculaesuculārum
dativesuculaesuculīs
accusativesuculamsuculās
ablativesuculāsuculīs
vocativesuculasuculae

sŭcŭla, ae, f. dim. perh. root σεύω, to drive,
I. a kind of machine for drawing or lifting, a winch, windlass, capstan, Cato, R. R. 19, 2; Vitr. 10, 2; Plaut. Rud. 4, 4, 126; of a wine- or oil-press, Cato, R. R. 12; 18, 2; Dig. 19, 2, 19.
sŭcŭla, ae, f. dim. sus,
I. a little pig, only in paronom. with 1. sucula, Plaut. Rud. 4, 4, 126.
sŭcŭla, ae, f. cf. ὕω, to rain, mostly plur. suculae,
I. the constellation Hyades, a transl. of the Gr. ὑάδες, Tiro ap. Gell. 13, 9, 4; Plin. 2, 39, 39, § 106: nostri a similitudine cognominis Graeci propter sues impositum arbitrantes imperitiā appellavere suculas, id. 18, 26, 66, § 247; cf. Cic. N. D. 2, 43, 111; Col. 2, 2, 4; 2, 2, 34; 2, 2, 36; 2, 2, 89.

Origins

From sūs (“pig, hog, sow”) + -cula (diminutive suffix), at least when used literally. The more frequent "winch", "windlass" sense is most often explained as a metaphorical extension of this, by the resemblance of the device and the attached apparatus to a sow with her litter; the use of porculus (“little piglet”) figuratively to refer to a hook or clutching device used with a sucula indicates that this interpretation was certainly salient, whether original or secondary. Kortlandt 2007, citing Dybo 1961, explains the form's short vowel as from *sŭko- with an originally stressed velar suffix that caused pretonic shortening (which per Dybo is a shared feature of Italic and Celtic). Rasmussen 1999 instead attributes the short vowel to pre-geminate shortening (*sukkla- < *sukkelā-), and argues that Dybo was incorrect to give this as an example of pretonic shortening. For the idea that the gemination in succula is original, compare Proto-Celtic *sukkos. Alternative proposals for the etymology of the "windlass" sense: * Per Walde and Hofmann 1954, the "windlass" sense is from a Proto-Indo-European root related to Lithuanian sùkti (“to weave, spin, rotate”) and Russian скать (skatʹ, “twist, turn”). * Per Lewis and Short 1879, the "windlass" sense is possibly related to Greek σεύω (seúō, “drive”), itself of uncertain origin.

Descendants
  • Italiansucchiofrom Late Latin suculus
  • Italiansecchiofrom Late Latin suculus
  • Italiansucchiellofrom Late Latin suculus

In English words that came into English from sucula

  • succulasucula

Quick answers

What does sucula mean in Latin?
sucula, a noun, means “Diminutive of sūs (“pig”); winch, windlass, capstan (or similar device)”.
What is the genitive of sucula?
The genitive singular is suculae. sucula is feminine, first declension.
How do you pronounce sucula?
In classical Latin, [ˈsʊ.kʊ.ɫa]; in ecclesiastical (church) Latin, [ˈsuː.ku.la].