Oblata

Part of speech: noun

Definitions

1. A type of bread or wafer used in religious ceremonies, especially in the context of the Eucharist
2. An offering or gift, often in a spiritual or religious sense, presented to a deity or during a ritual
3. Referring to a circular, thin disc made for specific liturgical purposes in certain faiths, typically representing a sacred element

Etymology: "Oblata" is the plural of "oblatum," a Latin neuter past participle of "offerō," meaning "bring to" or "offer," built from "ob" ("in front of") and "ferō" ("bring"). In the liturgical sense, the plural names the bread and wine, or the wafers, that are presented on the altar before they are consecrated, so the word describes things already set out as offerings. The English word "oblate," meaning a flattened, slightly squashed sphere, comes from a separate Late Latin adjective "oblātus," which joins "ob" with "lātus" ("broad, wide"). Scholars modelled it on "prolatus" ("extended, lengthened"), so that a shape wider at the middle than at the poles was set against a stretched one. The two words are cousins that developed through different Latin roots, one meaning "offered" and the other "broad."

Synonyms: offering