ceroma

English

Noun

ceroma (countable and uncountable, plural ceromata)

1. A mixture of oil and wax.
2. (historical) A cloth with which ancient wrestlers rubbed themselves, to make their limbs not only more sleek and less capable of gripping, but more pliable and fit for exercise.

References

1728, Cyclopaedia.

Anagrams

• Camero, Morace, amorce

Latin

Etymology

From Ancient Greek κήρωμα (kḗrōma, “wrestlers' ointment; wrestling ring”), from κηρόω (kēróō, “to apply wax to”), from κηρός (kērós, “wax”).

Pronunciation

• (Classical Latin) IPA^(key): [keːˈroː.ma]
• (modern Italianate Ecclesiastical) IPA^(key): [t͡ʃeˈrɔː.ma]

Noun

cērōma n (genitive cērōmatis); third declension

1. an ointment for wrestlers, a mixture of oil and wax
2. (figuratively) the place for wrestling, the ring

Declension

Third-declension noun (neuter, imparisyllabic non-i-stem).

	singular	plural
nominative	cērōma	cērōmata
genitive	cērōmatis	cērōmatum
dative	cērōmatī	cērōmatibus
accusative	cērōma	cērōmata
ablative	cērōmate	cērōmatibus
vocative	cērōma	cērōmata

The accusative plural cērōmas and ablative plural cērōmatis (vowel quantities uncertain) are attested.

Related terms

• cērōmaticus

References

• “ceroma”, in Charlton T. Lewis and Charles Short (1879), A Latin Dictionary, Oxford: Clarendon Press
• “ceroma”, in Charlton T. Lewis (1891), An Elementary Latin Dictionary, New York: Harper & Brothers