epulum

Latin

Etymology

Possibly contracted from *edipulum, from edō.

Pronunciation

• (Classical Latin) IPA^(key): [ˈɛ.pʊ.ɫũː]
• (modern Italianate Ecclesiastical) IPA^(key): [ˈɛː.pu.lum]

Noun

epulum n (genitive epulī); second declension

1. feast, banquet, festive entertainment

   Synonyms: epulae, convīvium, dominium, cōmissātiō, fēsta, daps, alogia

   • 29 BCE – 19 BCE, Virgil, Aeneid 1.78–80:

     “Tū mihi quodcumque hoc rēgnī, tū scēptra Iovemque
     conciliās, tū dās epulīs accumbere dīvum,
     nimbōrumque facīs tempestātumque potentem.”

     “You [win] for me whatsoever sort of kingdom this [is], you secure [for me] a scepter and [favor from] Jupiter, you grant [to me the privilege] to recline at the feasts of the gods, and you confer [on me the] power of clouds and of storms.”
     (King Aeolus speaks with humble respect to Queen Juno; note the word repetition or anaphora: “You…, you…, you…, you….”)

2. (in the plural) dishes, meats.
3. (in the plural, figuratively) food.

Usage notes

The plural form epulae may be used separately as a plurale tantum.

Declension

This noun is heterogeneous, having neuter second declension in the singular and feminine first declension in the plural.

Second-declension noun (neuter) or first-declension noun.

	singular	plural
nominative	epulum	epulae
genitive	epulī	epulārum
dative	epulō	epulīs
accusative	epulum	epulās
ablative	epulō	epulīs
vocative	epulum	epulae

It, however, may later be found in the standard

Second-declension noun (neuter).

	singular	plural
nominative	epulum	epula
genitive	epulī	epulōrum
dative	epulō	epulīs
accusative	epulum	epula
ablative	epulō	epulīs
vocative	epulum	epula

Related terms

• epulae
• epulāris
• epulō
• epulor

References

• “epulum”, in Charlton T. Lewis and Charles Short (1879), A Latin Dictionary, Oxford: Clarendon Press
• “epulum”, in Charlton T. Lewis (1891), An Elementary Latin Dictionary, New York: Harper & Brothers
• "epulum", in Charles du Fresne du Cange’s Glossarium Mediæ et Infimæ Latinitatis (augmented edition with additions by D. P. Carpenterius, Adelungius and others, edited by Léopold Favre, 1883–1887)
• “epulum”, in Gaffiot, Félix (1934), Dictionnaire illustré latin-français, Hachette.
• Carl Meißner; Henry William Auden (1894), Latin Phrase-Book‎, London: Macmillan and Co.
  • (ambiguous) to load the tables with the most exquisite viands: mensas exquisitissimis epulis instruere (Tusc. 5. 21. 62)
    
  • (ambiguous) during dinner; at table: inter cenam, inter epulas
    
  • (ambiguous) to entertain, regale a person: accipere aliquem (bene, copiose, laute, eleganter, regio apparatu, apparatis epulis)
    
• “epulum”, in Harry Thurston Peck, editor (1898), Harper’s Dictionary of Classical Antiquities, New York: Harper & Brothers