‖ amphora
(ˈæmfərə)
Pl. -æ.
[L., ad. Gr. ἀµϕορεύς, shortened from ἀµϕιϕορεύς, f. ἀµϕί on both sides + ϕορεύς bearer, f. ϕέρ-ειν to bear, descriptive of its two handles.]
1. Cl. Antiq. A two-handled vessel, of various shape, used by the ancients for holding wine, oil, etc.
| c 1465 Bk. Quintess. 5 Putte it into a glas clepid amphora, with a long necke. 1857 Birch Anc. Pottery (1858) I. 35 The amphoræ or two-handled vases in the collections of the Museum. 1879 J. Young Ceram. Art 24 Amphoræ—the Greek two-handled, oval-bodied vases with pointed base, which have been found wherever Greek commerce extended. |
2. A liquid measure, containing, with the Greeks, about 9 gallons; with the Romans, containing 6 gals. 7 pts., and also called quadrantal.
| 1607 Topsell Four-footed Beasts (1673) 54 A horn brought out of India to Ptolemy the second, which received three Amphoraes of water. 1753 Chambers Cycl. Supp. s.v., The Attic Amphora was one third part bigger than the Italic. 1820 Mair Tyro's Dict. (ed. 10) 5 Amphoralis, containing an amphora or rundlet. |
3. Bot. Sometimes applied to the lower or permanent part of the capsule called pyxidium, which remains attached to the flower stalk in the form of an urn, as in Hyoscyamus.
| 1821 S. Gray Arr. Brit. Pl. I. 184 Amphora, the lower valve [of the pyxis] attached to the peduncle. 1880 Gray Bot. Text-bk. 395 Amphora..the lower part of a pyxis. |