βασκαύλης

βασκαύλης

Grammatical information: m\/f?

Meaning: unknown utensil (POxy. 1, 109, 22, III-IV^p).

Other forms: Perhaps μασκαύλης

Origin: LW [a loanword which is (probably) not of Pre-Greek origin] Celt.

Etymology: Grenfell-Hunt suggest Lat. vasculum, but this wil hardly give the Greek form. WH thought that it was a loan from Lat. bascauda, m-. (Mart.) `eherner Spülnapf'. Thus Szemerényi, Gnomon 43 (1971) 660, but his proposal that the Greek word is due to a misreading of Λ for Δ is improbable; it could well be a phonetic development. Fur. 212 thinks that the word is Pre-Greek, as shown by b\/m and d\/l. He further recalls Talmud. maskel `basin', which would confirm origin in an Anatolian language. But Martialis 14, 99 seems to prove that the word is Celtic (or perhaps a Eur. substratum word).

Page in Frisk: 1,224