Cupa
/ˈkuː.pə/noun
A barrel-shaped Roman stone monument or sarcophagus, especially one used as a tomb.
Did you know?Roman cupae often resemble half-buried barrels, and their form may preserve the Latin word’s original association with a cask, tub, or hollow container.
Etymological Timeline
Classical Latin
Latin
cupa
“A tub, vat, cask, or barrel-shaped container”
Late Antiquity
Latin
cupa
“A barrel-shaped funerary monument or stone coffin”
Medieval Latin
Latin
cupa
“A cask or rounded container; the term continued in learned and ecclesiastical usage”
17th–18th Century
Archaeological Latin
cupa
“A technical term for barrel-shaped Roman funerary monuments”
19th Century
English
cupa
“An archaeological name for a Roman barrel-shaped tomb or sarcophagus”
Modern English
English
cupa
“A Roman funerary monument shaped like a cask or barrel”