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The corpus record — Latin

capulus

capulus · m

A sarcophagus

Generated live from the audited Latin corpus — every figure on this page is a database query, not prose from memory.

Where it lives

Densest 12 of 32 attested works shown, by occurrences per 10,000 attested tokens.

What it meant

căpŭlus — Lewis & Short

căpŭlus, i, m. (acc. to Gramm. also că-pŭlum, i, n., Paul. ex

Fest. p. 61 Müll.; Non. p. 4, 21 sq.; Isid. Orig. 20, 16, 5) [capio; prop. the holder].
I A sarcophagus, bier, sepulchre, tomb: capulum... vocatur et id, quo mortuo efferatur, Paul. l. l.: capulum dicitur quicquid aliquam rem intra se capit: nam sarcophagum, id est sepulchrum, capulum dici veteres volunt, quod corpora capiat... Novius... Prius in capulo quam in curuli sellā. Lucilius Satyrarum libro secundo, quem illi quom vidissent... in capulo hunc non esse, aliumque cubare. Var. Cosmotorque, Propter cunam capulum positum nutrix tradit pollictori, Non. p. 4, 21 sqq.; cf. Serv. ad Verg. A. 6, 222: (feretrum) Latine capulus dicitur, id. ib. 11, 64: dum funera portant, Dum capulo nondum manus excidit, Stat. Th. 3, 362: monumentum quoddam conspicamur. Ibi capulos carie et vetustate semitectos, quis inhabitabant pulverei et jam cinerosi mortui, App. M. 4, p. 150, 27: capuli lecti funerei vel rogi in modum arae constructi, Placid. Gloss. tom. III. p. 451.—Hence: ire ad capulum, to go to the grave, Lucr. 2, 1174; and sarcastically: capuli decus, one who deserves a bier = capularis, Plaut. As. 5, 2, 42.—
II That by which any thing is seized or held, the handle: aratri, Ov. P. 1, 8, 57: sceptri, id. M. 7, 506.—Esp., the hilt of a sword, Cic. Fat. 3, 5; Verg. A. 2, 553; 10, 536; Ov. M. 7, 422; 12, 133; 12, 491; Petr. 82, 2; Tac. A. 2, 21; App. M. 1, p. 108 al.; cf.: capulum manubrium gladii vocatur, Paul. l. l. —Hence,
III = membrum virile, Plaut. Cas. 5, 2, 29; with the addition of coleorum, Auct. Priap. 24, 7.—
IV Capulum, a halter for catching or fastening cattle, a lasso, Isid. Orig. 20, 16, 5; cf. capulo.

In the wild

6 of 57 attestations shown.

Where it came from

  • Ernout-Meillet, Dictionnaire etymologique de la langue latine Treated in Ernout-Meillet, Dictionnaire etymologique de la langue latine s.v. capulus (scan p. 121; entry #1731).

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Latin text and lemmatization derived from the Perseus Digital Library (canonical-latinLit), CC BY-SA 4.0. Lewis & Short (public domain) via Perseus. This derived data is shared under the same CC BY-SA 4.0 license.