urna

Meaning

1. (declension-1, feminine) urn, a moderately sized vessel for drawing water
2. (declension-1, feminine, historical) ballot box, particularly the urns used in gathering Roman ballots under the Republic
3. (declension-1, feminine) urn, a moderately sized vessel used to store the ashes of the cremated dead
4. (declension-1, feminine) bank, coin jar, a jar or urn used to store money
5. (declension-1, feminine, historical) urna, a Roman unit of liquid measure equivalent to about 13 L

Concepts

urn

ballot box

🗳️

flagon

jug

pitcher

Synonyms

cadus

urceus

Translations

urna

🗳️

urna

Urne

urne

urna

τεφροδοχή

τεφροδόχος

boisseau

cruche

brocca

caraffa

urn

bilha

cântaro

Pronounced as (IPA)

[ˈʊr.na]

Etymology

Probably from *urc-na, with simplification of the cluster. Ernout and Meillet view this word, urceus, orca and Greek ὕρχη (húrkhē) (other words for vessels) as all related somehow via borrowing (with the exact source and pathway unclear). Bennett 1907 indicates that the length of the vowel in the first syllable is not established, noting that the Italian descendant could be a learned form, and hypothesizes that the word is derived from a weak grade of the root arc-, presumably referring to the root found in arceō, arca, and arx, which is now reconstructed as *h₂erk-. However, Schrijver 1991 argues that word-initial *HRC- normally has a reflex of aRC in Latin (as in argentum from *h₂r̥ǵn̥to-), which would exclude Bennett's favored etymology.
By an alternative derivation, from ūrō (“burn, singe”) in reference to the firing of the clay in their creation.
Cognate with Faliscan 𐌖𐌓𐌍𐌀𐌌 (urnam, accusative singular).