Phiale

Part of speech: noun

Definitions

1. A shallow, often decorative bowl historically used in rituals to hold offerings or libations
2. A wide and shallow vessel typically used in ancient ceremonies to pour out liquid offerings
3. A flat, open container employed in religious rites to contain and present libations

Etymology: The Greek "phiálē" named a shallow drinking bowl, and the English "phiale" keeps that sense almost unchanged, down to the wide, flat body that made it useful for pouring rather than sipping. Greek writers used the word for the libation dishes used in religious rites, where a worshipper tipped out a little wine or milk as an offering to the gods, so the object was defined by what it did with the liquid rather than by how much it held. English took the word directly from Ancient Greek, and it is a doublet of "vial": the two came into English by different routes from the same Greek source, with "vial" arriving through Latin and Old French and acquiring the sense of a small glass container, while "phiale" kept its specialised meaning of a ceremonial bowl. The two words therefore look related and share an ancestor, yet they describe quite different objects.

Synonyms: bowl, dish, vessel