urna

Meaning

1. feminineurn, a moderately sized vessel for drawing water
   𐌄𐌂𐌏𐌖𐌓𐌍𐌀𐌕𐌉𐌕𐌀𐌖𐌄𐌍𐌃𐌉𐌀𐌔𐌌𐌀𐌌𐌀𐌓[𐌂𐌏𐌔𐌌]𐌄𐌃𐌖𐌇𐌄[𐌂𐌄𐌃]I am the urn of Tita Vendia. Mamar[cus had m]e ma[de].c. 620–600 BCE, Tita Vendia vase (transliteration: Camps Felip, Júlia, Desinències nominals llatines arcaiques: anàlisi diacrònica des del protoindoeuropeu i fonts (bachelor thesis), page 14):
2. femininehistoricalballot box, particularly the urns used in gathering Roman ballots under the Republic
3. feminineurn, a moderately sized vessel used to store the ashes of the cremated dead
4. femininebank, coin jar, a jar or urn used to store money
5. femininehistoricalurna, a Roman unit of liquid measure equivalent to about 13 L

Latīnē defined in Latin in our graded readers

Declension

Origins

Probably from *urc-na, with simplification of the cluster. Ernout and Meillet view this word, urceus, orca and Greek ὕρχη (húrkhē) (other words for vessels) as all related somehow via borrowing (with the exact source and pathway unclear). Bennett 1907 indicates that the length of the vowel in the first syllable is not established, noting that the Italian descendant could be a learned form, and hypothesizes that the word is derived from a weak grade of the root arc-, presumably referring to the root found in arceō, arca, and arx, which is now reconstructed as *h₂erk-. However, Schrijver 1991 argues that word-initial *HRC- normally has a reflex of aRC in Latin (as in argentum from *h₂ŕ̥ǵn̥tom), which would exclude Bennett's favored etymology. By an alternative derivation, from ūrō (“burn, singe”) in reference to the firing of the clay in their creation. Cognate with Faliscan 𐌖𐌓𐌍𐌀𐌌 (urnam, accusative singular).

Related words