plaustrum

Latin

Alternative forms

• plōstrum

Etymology

Uncertain; possibly from Latin plautus~plōtus (“flat, broad”), thus "flatwagon", or Latin plaudere~plōdere (“clap, clatter”), thus "clatterer", both from Proto-Indo-European *pleh₂- and containing *-trom (“tool-suffix”). V. Bertoldi considers it a substrate word of various forms, among which ploxenum (“wagon-box”). C.f also Latin plaumorātum (plauromātum?) (“a type of plough”) and Proto-Germanic *plōgaz (“plough”) of likewise uncertain etymology.

Pronunciation

• (Classical Latin) IPA^(key): /ˈplau̯s.trum/, [ˈpɫ̪äu̯s̠t̪rʊ̃ˑ]
• (modern Italianate Ecclesiastical) IPA^(key): /ˈplau̯s.trum/, [ˈpläu̯st̪rum]

Noun

plaustrum n (genitive plaustrī); second declension

1. (vehicles) an open wagon or cart for hauling loads.

   Synonyms: vehiculum, carrus, iūmentum

2. the Big Dipper, Charles' Wain, the Plough.

Declension

Second-declension noun (neuter).

Case	Singular	Plural
Nominative	plaustrum	plaustra
Genitive	plaustrī	plaustrōrum
Dative	plaustrō	plaustrīs
Accusative	plaustrum	plaustra
Ablative	plaustrō	plaustrīs
Vocative	plaustrum	plaustra

Derived terms

• plōstellum
• plōstrārius, plōstrālius, plaustrārius
• plaustrilūcus (to meaning 2.)

References

• Walde, Alois, Hofmann, Johann Baptist (1954) “plaustrum”, in Lateinisches etymologisches Wörterbuch (in German), 3rd edition, volume 2, Heidelberg: Carl Winter, page 320

Further reading

• “plaustrum”, in Charlton T. Lewis and Charles Short (1879) A Latin Dictionary, Oxford: Clarendon Press
• “plaustrum”, in Charlton T. Lewis (1891) An Elementary Latin Dictionary, New York: Harper & Brothers
• plaustrum 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)
• plaustrum in Gaffiot, Félix (1934) Dictionnaire illustré latin-français, Hachette.
• “plaustrum”, in Harry Thurston Peck, editor (1898), Harper's Dictionary of Classical Antiquities, New York: Harper & Brothers
• “plaustrum”, in William Smith et al., editor (1890), A Dictionary of Greek and Roman Antiquities, London: William Wayte. G. E. Marindin