Possibly contracted from*edipulum, fromedō.
epulum n (genitiveepulī);second declension
- feast,banquet,festiveentertainment
- Synonyms:epulae,convīvium,dominium,cōmissātiō,fēsta,daps,alogia
29BCE – 19BCE,
Virgil,
Aeneid1.78–80:
- “Tū mihi quodcumque hoc rēgnī, tū scēptra Iovemque
conciliās, tū dāsepulīs accumbere dīvum,
nimbōrumque facīs tempestātumque potentem.”- “You [win] for me whatsoever sort of kingdom this [is], you secure [for me] a scepter and [favor from] Jupiter, you grant [to me the privilege] to reclineat the feasts of the gods, and you confer [on me the] power of clouds and of storms.”
(King Aeolus speaks with humble respect to Queen Juno; note the word repetition oranaphora: “You…, you…, you…, you….”)
- (in theplural)dishes,meats.
- (in theplural, figuratively)food.
The plural formepulae may be used separately as a plurale tantum.
This noun is heterogeneous, having neuter second declension in the singular and feminine first declension in the plural.
Second-declension noun (neuter) orfirst-declension noun.
It, however, may later be found in the standard
Second-declension noun (neuter).
- “epulum”, inCharlton T. Lewis and Charles Short (1879)A Latin Dictionary, Oxford: Clarendon Press
- “epulum”, inCharlton T. Lewis (1891)An Elementary Latin Dictionary, New York: Harper & Brothers
- "epulum", in Charles du Fresne du Cange’sGlossarium Mediæ et Infimæ Latinitatis (augmented edition with additions by D. P. Carpenterius, Adelungius and others, edited by Léopold Favre, 1883–1887)
- epulum inGaffiot, Félix (1934)Dictionnaire illustré latin-français, Hachette.
- Carl Meißner, Henry William Auden (1894)Latin Phrase-Book[1], London:Macmillan and Co.
- (ambiguous) to load the tables with the most exquisite viands:mensas exquisitissimis epulis instruere (Tusc. 5. 21. 62)
- (ambiguous) during dinner; at table:inter cenam, inter epulas
- (ambiguous) to entertain, regale a person:accipere aliquem (bene, copiose, laute, eleganter, regio apparatu, apparatis epulis)
- “epulum”, inHarry Thurston Peck, editor (1898),Harper's Dictionary of Classical Antiquities, New York: Harper & Brothers
