What does amphora mean?
An amphora is a tall ceramic jar with two handles, an oval body, and a narrow neck, produced in vast quantities by the ancient Greeks and Romans for storing and transporting liquids and dry goods such as wine, olive oil, and grain. Its tapered foot allowed amphorae to be packed upright in soft sand or ship holds, making them the standard shipping container of the classical Mediterranean world for well over a thousand years. Today the word appears chiefly in archaeology, art history, and museum writing, where amphorae serve as key evidence for dating sites and reconstructing ancient trade routes. The term also denotes an ancient unit of liquid capacity. With its strong classical associations, amphora evokes antiquity, commerce, and craftsmanship, and it remains a staple of scholarly description of ancient pottery.
A tall ancient Greek or Roman jar with two handles and a narrow neck, used for storing and transporting wine, oil, grain, and other commodities.
"A cracked amphora lay half-buried in the sand where the Roman cargo ship had foundered centuries before."
In classical scholarship the plural 'amphorae' is preferred over 'amphoras'.
An ancient unit of liquid capacity, varying by region and period but generally in the range of roughly 26 to 39 liters.
"The merchant recorded his shipment as forty amphorae of Attic wine."
This historical measure sense appears mainly in translations of classical texts and historical accounts.
Academic and archaeological writing conventionally uses the Latin-style plural 'amphorae'; the anglicized 'amphoras' is widely accepted in general usage.
"The gallery displayed a row of amphorae spanning five centuries of Greek pottery."
Ancient shipwrecks are so littered with amphorae that underwater archaeologists can date a wreck simply by the shape of its jars.
Reviewed by Deb Chak, Editor. AI-assisted content curated by RJS Tech Solutions LLP.
Etymology of amphora
The word amphora comes from Latin amphora, itself borrowed from Greek amphiphoreus ('two-handled carrier'), formed from amphi- ('on both sides') and phoreus ('bearer'), related to the verb pherein ('to carry'). This same Greek root gives English words such as amphibious, amphitheater, and euphoria. The term entered English in the early modern period through Latin scholarly usage, and both the Latin-derived plural 'amphorae' and the anglicized 'amphoras' remain in use.
Related word forms
How amphora is actually used
Amphora is a scholarly and archaeological term, common in art history, classics, and museum contexts rather than everyday speech. The plural is conventionally 'amphorae' in academic writing, though 'amphoras' is also accepted. The word carries connotations of antiquity and classical civilization.