Everyday LifeGreek → English
Amphora
/ˈæmfərə/noun
A tall two-handled jar used in the ancient world to store and ship wine, oil and grain.
The Greek roots
ἀμφί
amphí
on both sides
φέρω
phérō
to carry
Literally: “carried on both sides”
The story of the word
The full form is ἀμφιφορεύς, a thing carried on both sides, which describes the two handles precisely. Greeks contracted it to ἀμφορεύς, and Rome used amphora as a unit of volume as well as a vessel, roughly twenty-six litres. Ampoule is generally traced back to the same jar through the Latin diminutive ampulla. Broken amphorae make up an entire artificial hill in Rome, Monte Testaccio.
- How it travelled
- Ancient Greek → Latin → English
Same family
amphibianmetaphorperipheryampoule
In a sentence
Divers brought up an amphora still sealed, with the stamp of a Rhodian shipper on the handle.