carchesium

Latin

A carchesium from c. 170–250 held by the Gallo-Roman Museum in Tongeren, Belgium

Etymology

Borrowed from Ancient Greek καρχήσιον (karkhḗsion, “carchesium, masthead”).

Pronunciation

• (Classical) IPA^(key): /karˈkʰeː.si.um/, [kärˈkʰeːs̠iʊ̃ˑ]
• (modern Italianate Ecclesiastical) IPA^(key): /karˈke.si.um/, [kärˈkɛːs̬ium]

Noun

carchēsium n (genitive carchēsiī or carchēsī); second declension

1. carchesium, a kind of Greek cup or beaker particularly used for wine and ritual libations
2. masthead, particularly as used for tackle, an early kind of crow's nest, and to act as a crane during loading and unloading

Declension

Second-declension noun (neuter).

Case	Singular	Plural
Nominative	carchēsium	carchēsia
Genitive	carchēsiī carchēsī1	carchēsiōrum
Dative	carchēsiō	carchēsiīs
Accusative	carchēsium	carchēsia
Ablative	carchēsiō	carchēsiīs
Vocative	carchēsium	carchēsia

¹Found in older Latin (until the Augustan Age).

Descendants

• Italian: calcese, carchesio

Further reading

• “carchesium”, in Charlton T. Lewis and Charles Short (1879) A Latin Dictionary, Oxford: Clarendon Press
• “carchesium”, in Charlton T. Lewis (1891) An Elementary Latin Dictionary, New York: Harper & Brothers
• carchesium in Gaffiot, Félix (1934) Dictionnaire illustré latin-français, Hachette.
• “carchesium”, in Harry Thurston Peck, editor (1898), Harper's Dictionary of Classical Antiquities, New York: Harper & Brothers
• “carchesium”, in William Smith et al., editor (1890), A Dictionary of Greek and Roman Antiquities, London: William Wayte. G. E. Marindin