Mortarium

Part of speech: noun

Pronunciation: /mɔːˈtɛːɹɪəm/

Definitions

1. A vessel, usually crafted from stone or pottery, designed for grinding, mixing substances, and creating pastes or powders
2. An ancient bowl commonly made from durable materials, intended for the crushing and blending of various ingredients
3. A sturdy container typically made of stone or ceramic used to crush, grind, and blend ingredients

Etymology: The Latin "mortarium" named a broad, heavy bowl used for pounding and grinding, and in English the same word split into two forms that took very different paths. "Mortar" arrived as the ordinary term for the bowl, while "mortarium" was taken over directly from Latin as a learned, specialist name for the grinding vessel itself. The pairing is a doublet: two English words that descend from one source, one reshaped by everyday use and the other kept close to its classical form. The bowl's job is what gives the word its shape. Romans pounded grain, herbs and other materials inside it, so the name carries the idea of crushing rather than any building material. The mortar that holds bricks together later borrowed the same name, presumably because both involve a mixed, pounded substance, though the bowl came first in the Latin sense.

Synonyms: mortar, pestle, bowl, vessel, container