bacciballum

Latin

Alternative forms

• basioballum

Etymology

Only attested once in the Satyricon, of uncertain origin and meaning.

Pronunciation

• (Classical Latin) IPA^(key): /bak.kiˈbal.lum/, [bäkːɪˈbälːʲʊ̃ˑ]

Noun

bacciballum n (genitive bacciballī); second declension

1. (hapax, colloquial) a young and attractive woman
   • c. 27 CE – 66 CE, Petronius, Satyricon 61:

     Cum adhuc servirem, habitabamus in vico angusto; nunc Gavillae domus est. Ibi, quomodo dii volunt, amare coepi uxorem Terentii coponis: noveratis Melissam Tarentinam, pulcherrimum bacciballum. Sed ego non mehercules corporaliter aut propter res venerias curavi, sed magis quod benemoria fuit.

Declension

Second-declension noun (neuter).

Case	Singular	Plural
Nominative	bacciballum	bacciballa
Genitive	bacciballī	bacciballōrum
Dative	bacciballō	bacciballīs
Accusative	bacciballum	bacciballa
Ablative	bacciballō	bacciballīs
Vocative	bacciballum	bacciballa

References

• “bacciballum”, in Charlton T. Lewis and Charles Short (1879) A Latin Dictionary, Oxford: Clarendon Press
• bacciballum in Gaffiot, Félix (1934) Dictionnaire illustré latin-français, Hachette.
• “bacciballum” in volume 2, column 1667, line 37 in the Thesaurus Linguae Latinae (TLL Open Access), Berlin (formerly Leipzig): De Gruyter (formerly Teubner), 1900–present