tomaculum

Latin

FWOTD – 9 February 2024

Alternative forms

• tomāclum, tumātulum, thumātulum, thymātulum

Etymology

Uncertain; probably derived in some way from Greek.

Lewis and Short refer it to Greek Ancient Greek τομή (tomḗ, “cutting, incision, insection”), in which case the ending is presumably the instrument noun suffix -culum.

The manuscripts of Petronius and Juvenal show a variety of other spellings, including thumatula, tumatula and thymatula; C. Pellegrino, taking this family of spellings as the true reading, argued that the cited passages actually contain a diminutive derived from Greek θῡ́μᾰτᾰ (thū́mata) (the plural of θῦμᾰ (thûma, “sacrificial animal”). However, it is difficult to get from the long vowel in Greek θῦμᾰ (thûma) to the short y̆/ŭ or ŏ attested by the scansion in Latin verse and required by Romance descendants that go back to a form *tomacella.

Bodel also considers these spellings to represent the original form, but favors an alternative etymology proposed by Watkins from Greek θύμον (thúmon, “thyme”). In Latin, thymum +‎ -ātus would yield an adjective *thumātus (“made with thyme”), which would form a diminutive in the neuter as *thumātum +‎ -ulus > thumātulum (“sausage seasoned with thyme”). Compare myrtum (“myrtle berry”) +‎ -ātus > myrtātum, murtātum (“sausage seasoned with myrtle berries”), possibly the source of Italian mortadella.

Per Bodel, the form tomācinae in Varro Res Rusticae 2.4.10, sometimes cited as an alternative derivation from the same base, is unrelated and should be emended to Comacinae.

Pronunciation

• (Classical) IPA^(key): /toˈmaː.ku.lum/, [t̪ɔˈmäːkʊɫ̪ʊ̃ˑ]
• (modern Italianate Ecclesiastical) IPA^(key): /toˈma.ku.lum/, [t̪oˈmäːkulum]

Noun

tomāculum n (genitive tomāculī); second declension (uncommon)

1. a type of sausage
   • c. 27 CE – 66 CE, Petronius, Satyricon 31.11:

     Fuerunt et tomacula ferventia supra craticulam argenteam posita, et infra craticulam Syriaca pruna cum granis Punici mali.

     There were sizzling tomacula located on a silver grill, and under the grill damsons with pomegranate seeds.

   • c. 27 CE – 66 CE, Petronius, Satyricon 49.10:

     Recepta cocus tunica cultrum arripuit porcique ventrem hinc atque illinc timida manu secuit. Nec mora, ex plagis ponderis inclinatione crescentibus tomacula cum botulis effusa sunt.

     Putting on a tunic, the cook seized a knife and cut the pig's belly here and there with a fearful hand. At once, out of the gashes that were widenening from the weight, tomacula with botuli rushed out.

   • c. 100 CE – c. 130 CE, Juvenal, Satires 10.355, (dactylic hexameter):

     U͞t tămĕn e͞t po͞scās ălĭqui͞d vŏvĕāsquĕ săce͞llīs
     e͞xta e͞t ca͞ndĭdŭlī dīvīnă tŏmācŭlă po͞rcī,
     ōra͞ndum e͞st u͞t si͞t mēns sāna i͞n co͞rpŏrĕ sānō.

     Yet also if you request something and dedicate at shrines
     the entrails and sacrificial tomacula of a shining white piglet,
     your prayer should be for a healthy mind in a healthy body.

   • 86 CE – 103 CE, Martial, Epigrammata 1.41.9, (Phalacean hendecasyllable):

     quo͞d fūma͞ntĭă quī tŏmāclă ra͞ucu͞s
     Ci͞rcu͞mfe͞rt tĕpĭdīs cŏcu͞s pŏpīnīs

     ...hoarse cook who carries around smoking tomacla at tepid eating-houses

Declension

Second-declension noun (neuter).

Case	Singular	Plural
Nominative	tomāculum	tomācula
Genitive	tomāculī	tomāculōrum
Dative	tomāculō	tomāculīs
Accusative	tomāculum	tomācula
Ablative	tomāculō	tomāculīs
Vocative	tomāculum	tomācula

Further reading

• “tomaculum”, in Charlton T. Lewis and Charles Short (1879) A Latin Dictionary, Oxford: Clarendon Press
• “tomaculum”, in Charlton T. Lewis (1891) An Elementary Latin Dictionary, New York: Harper & Brothers
• tomaculum in Gaffiot, Félix (1934) Dictionnaire illustré latin-français, Hachette.