ergastulum

Latin

Etymology

Probably from Ancient Greek ἐργαστήριον (ergastḗrion, “workshop”), from ἐργαστής (ergastḗs, “worker, employee”), from ἐργάζομαι (ergázomai, “I work, do labor”).

Noun

ergastulum n (genitive ergastulī); second declension

1. penitentiary, workhouse (or its residents)
2. slave prison

Declension

Second-declension noun (neuter).

Case	Singular	Plural
Nominative	ergastulum	ergastula
Genitive	ergastulī	ergastulōrum
Dative	ergastulō	ergastulīs
Accusative	ergastulum	ergastula
Ablative	ergastulō	ergastulīs
Vocative	ergastulum	ergastula

Descendants

• Italian: ergastolo
• Portuguese: ergástulo
• Sicilian: ergàstulu
• Spanish: ergástulo

References

• “ergastulum”, in Charlton T. Lewis and Charles Short (1879) A Latin Dictionary, Oxford: Clarendon Press
• “ergastulum”, in Charlton T. Lewis (1891) An Elementary Latin Dictionary, New York: Harper & Brothers
• ergastulum in Charles du Fresne du Cange’s Glossarium Mediæ et Infimæ Latinitatis (augmented edition with additions by D. P. Carpenterius, Adelungius and others, edited by Léopold Favre, 1883–1887)
• ergastulum in Gaffiot, Félix (1934) Dictionnaire illustré latin-français, Hachette.
• “ergastulum”, in Harry Thurston Peck, editor (1898), Harper's Dictionary of Classical Antiquities, New York: Harper & Brothers
• “ergastulum”, in William Smith et al., editor (1890), A Dictionary of Greek and Roman Antiquities, London: William Wayte. G. E. Marindin