Definitions
American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fourth Edition
- n. A two-handled jar with a narrow neck used by the ancient Greeks and Romans to carry wine or oil.
Century Dictionary and Cyclopedia
- n. Among the Greeks and Romans, a vessel, usually tall and slender, having two handles or ears, a narrow neck, and generally a sharp-pointed base for insertion into a stand or into the ground: used for holding wine, oil, honey, grain, etc. Amphoræ were commonly made of hard-baked clay, unglazed; but Homer mentions amphoræ of gold; the Egyptians had them of bronze; and vessels of this form have been found in marble, alabaster, glass, and silver. The stopper of a wine-filled amphora was covered with pitch or gypsum, and among the Romans the title of the wine was marked on the outside, the date of the vintage being indicated by the names of the consuls then in office. Amphoræ with painted decoration, having lids, and provided with bases enabling them to stand independently, served commonly as ornaments among the Greeks, and were given as prizes at some public games, much as cups are now given as prizes in racing and athletic sports. The Panathenaic amphoræ were large vases of this class, bearing designs relating to the worship of Athena, and, filled with oil from the sacred olives, were given at Athens as prizes to the victors in the Panathenaic games.
- n. A liquid measure of the Greeks and Romans. The Greek amphora was probably equal to 24¼ liters, and the Roman amphora to 25½ liters in earlier and to 26 liters in later times.
- n. In botany, the permanent basal portion of a pyxidium.
- n. [capitalized] [NL.] In zoology: A genus of Polygastrica. Ehrenberg. A genus of coleopterous insects. Wollaston.
Wiktionary
- n. countable A two handled jar with a narrow neck that was used in ancient times to store or carry wine or oils.
GNU Webster's 1913
- n. Among the ancients, a two-handled vessel, tapering at the bottom, used for holding wine, oil, etc.
WordNet 3.0
- n. an ancient jar with two handles and a narrow neck; used to hold oil or wine
Etymologies
- From Latin amphora, from Ancient Greek ἀμφορεύς (amphoreus, "vased shaped ornament with a narrow neck"). (Wiktionary)
- Middle English, from Latin, from Greek amphoreus, short for amphiphoreus : amphi-, amphi- + phoreus, bearer (from pherein, to bear. (American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fourth Edition)
Examples
“A single character combining a question mark and an exclamation - called an interrobang - didn't catch on because it doesn't read well in small sizes and never made it to standard keyboards, while, thanks to email addresses, the @, also known as an amphora, has become ubiquitous.”
“It's home to one of the most influential innovative winemakers around, Francesco Gravner, who has resurrected old, militantly natural techniques, such as amphora maturation.”
“Created in 1963, the cup was either originally supposed to be called the "amphora" cup or be a play on that word.”
The Huffington Post: Leslie Buck, Anthora Coffee Cup Designer, Dead At 87
“I remembered this one more or less, with the grapes and the "amphora".”
More about egg symbols in Etruria and the rest of the classical world
“The @ symbol was also used as an abbreviation for "amphora", the unit of measurement used to determine the amount held by the large terra cotta jars that were used to ship grain, spices and wine. discovered this use of the @ symbol in a letter written in 1536 by a Florentine trader named Francesco Lapi.”
“amphora," a measuring device used by local tradesmen.”
“Arp's painted-wood bas-relief "La Femme-amphore" (1929), in which a small figurative form, like a kernel, floats through the womb-like bowl of an amphora, speaks to Brancusi's curled-up ovoid "The Newborn (Version I)" (1920).”
“Then she remembered seeing her last colored amphora, the last trace of her artwork, in pieces on the floor in the entryway.”
“It has thrown up the largest collection of high-quality stamped tableware, glass beads, semi-precious stones, amphora shreds, a canoe and what seems to be a pier.”
“Here, Ms. Mertens shares details about a 13-inch-tall terra cotta neck-amphora — a type of storage jar — made in Athens around 540 B.C.”
The Wall Street Journal: Stories in Clay: Decoding Ancient Greek Pottery
Lists
These user-created lists contain the word ‘amphora’.
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G[r]eek
A collection of words found in English that are either purely Greek or have Greek etymology.
Please add with caution and certainty. Will be regularly updated by me.etymology, philosophy, laconic, disharmony, patriarchic, archaic, phlogiston, aether, aeon, angel, arachnid, rhythm and 346 more...
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Containers
Stuff that holds other stuff.
cardboard box, jar, filing cabinet, safe deposit box, cupboard, wardrobe, jewel case, briefcase, locker, canopic jar, chest of drawers, paper sack and 208 more...
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Realia from Everywhere
Culturally defined terms and expressions from the four corners of the world
fjord, mistral steppe, tornado, tsunami, polder, kiwi, koala, sequoia, Abominable Snowman, paprika, spaghetti, empanada and 299 more...
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cicatrix
scar tissue
minatory, naira, Cluniac, embracive, prolix, hierophant, timorous, adduce, veracious, dysphoric, sang-froid, vitiate and 503 more...
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Jugs
aludel, aljofaina, pig, chytra, gallipot, brown-george, coffee-pot, cezve, ibrik, biggin, drip pot, water-jug and 78 more...
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The Grandeur That Was Rome
Friends, Romans, Countrymen: lend me your words
transpadane, palatine, capitoline, athenaeum, aedile, decemvir, cincinnatus, spqr, quirites, exedra, propraetor, Quirinal and 70 more...
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maygra
apropos, advantageous, perception, discombobulated, adumbrate, apogee, perihelion, mortmain, solitudinous, mediastinus, asumbrative, traveler and 498 more...
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Learned
ambergris, andiron, aphelion, austral, bellicose, boreal, bravura, chaff, chicanery, creditable, credulous, decamp and 223 more...
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euphonic logorrhea
cephalopodous, plumulaceous, oblomovism, etiolation, pavonine, somnolent, logorrhea, fulguration, gossamer, prestidigitation, daffodil, inchoate and 174 more...
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The Sog Collection
My big word list.
chaos, flaccid, empirical, flotsam, cacophony, grumble, assuage, awe, romance, mortality, coalesce, fortuitous and 3282 more...
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word set 2
preemptively, crocodilian, gyrator, wallowing, sodbusters, electrification, manganese, swabbing, plummeted, silhouetting, careening, frothy and 101 more...
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summer words 2009
how many words can I make mine this summer?
largess, hoyden, catholic, fornicatress, quean, slattern, bildungsroman, sybaritic, descresent, nodus, frittle, callipygian and 529 more...
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azd's Words
adamantine, abatial, ablate, ablative, abrogate, accretive, acromegaly, acrostic, actinism, actinic, acuity, adduce and 968 more...
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je les adore!
fusillade, foal, celestial, abattoir, byzantium, berlin, casablanca, babylon, balkans, albion, avalon, between the devil... and 471 more...
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The Collection
A somewhat discriminatory list of words and phrases collected for their euphonic or arcane appeal, interesting etymology, or concise definition of an otherwise unnamed phenomenon or concept.
ziggurat, neophilia, sucker punch, soporific, epoch, tundra, fiat, idiotproof, miscellany, metaphysics, cryptozoology, dysphoria and 850 more...
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TheLastGoodNameLeft
The Last Good Words Left
ephemera, gammon, errata, ellipses, octopi, heteronormative, polyp, intersectionality, theses, california, halfback, fullback and 555 more...
Tweets
Looking for tweets for amphora.
itsina "You obtain an amphora of Bacchus' wine!" -Final Fantasy XII Jan 13, 2009
reesetee A historic unit of volume of an or or jar of the same name--tall, with handles near the top on both sides. Amphoras were the containers of choice for shipping wine and other commodities in ancient Greece and Rome. The Greek amphora is believed to have held held about 38.8 liters; the Roman amphora was believed to have held about 25.5 liters. Nov 6, 2007