epulum

Latin

Etymology

Possibly contracted from *edipulum, from edō.

Pronunciation

• (Classical Latin) IPA^(key): /ˈe.pu.lum/, [ˈɛpʊɫ̪ʊ̃ˑ]
• (modern Italianate Ecclesiastical) IPA^(key): /ˈe.pu.lum/, [ˈɛːpulum]

Noun

epulum n (variously declined, genitive epulī); second declension, first declension

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

Usage notes

The plural form epulae may be used separately as a singular noun.

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.

Case	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).

Case	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^[1], 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