sterceia

Latin

FWOTD – 6 October 2022

Etymology

Perhaps a humorous formation stercus (“dung, manure”) +‎ -ēius (nomen-gentilicium-forming suffix) in Tertullian. Compare to stertēia.

Pronunciation

• (Classical Latin) IPA^(key): /sterˈkeːi̯.a/, [s̠t̪ɛrˈkeːi̯ä]
• (modern Italianate Ecclesiastical) IPA^(key): /sterˈt͡ʃej.a/, [st̪erˈt͡ʃɛjä]

Noun

stercēia f (genitive stercēiae); first declension

1. a maidservant who cleans the excrement from children
   • c. 160 CE, Tertullian, Adversus Valentinianos 8:

     Quārē nōn et stercēiae et syntrophī nōminantur?

     Why are excrement maids or childhood companions not also named?

Declension

First-declension noun.

Case	Singular	Plural
Nominative	stercēia	stercēiae
Genitive	stercēiae	stercēiārum
Dative	stercēiae	stercēiīs
Accusative	stercēiam	stercēiās
Ablative	stercēiā	stercēiīs
Vocative	stercēia	stercēiae

References

• “sterceia”, in Charlton T. Lewis and Charles Short (1879) A Latin Dictionary, Oxford: Clarendon Press
• sterceia in Gaffiot, Félix (1934) Dictionnaire illustré latin-français, Hachette.