What does patera mean?
A patera is a shallow dish or bowl, most often referring to a small ancient Greek or Roman vessel used for offerings, libations, or eating. Its name is specialized, appearing today chiefly in archaeology, art history, museum catalogues, and descriptions of classical decorative objects. A famous example is the patera, or shallow bowl, associated with the Severan period of Roman art. The word is also used more broadly for ancient bronze or silver vessels with shallow, saucer-like forms. Because it is a technical and historical term, patera generally sounds more learned than dish, bowl, or platter, while those everyday words do not carry the same association with ritual and classical antiquity. In a museum or archaeological setting, the term can distinguish a particular vessel type and sometimes function more precisely than the general word dish.
nounA patera is a shallow dish or bowl, especially a small ancient Greek or Roman vessel used for offerings, libations, or eating. In modern usage, the term occurs chiefly in archaeology, art history, and descriptions of classical decorative objects.
- A shallow dish or bowl, especially an ancient Greek or Roman vessel used for offerings, libations, or eating.
"The museum displayed a bronze patera decorated with a scene from Greek mythology."
"An ornate patera was used to pour a libation during the ceremony."
"The collector's cabinet includes several paterae from the classical period."
The plural is formed with the Latin-style ending -ae.
"Several patera vessels were found in the burial."
From a practical offering bowl to a prized ancient bronze, the patera turns ritual into an art object.
Reviewed by Deb Chak, Editor. AI-assisted content curated by RJS Tech Solutions LLP.
Where does patera come from?
Patera comes from Latin, where it denoted a shallow bowl or dish, especially one associated with religious offerings. The Latin word is generally traced to the Greek patērē, meaning a shallow bowl or libation vessel. Its relationship to Greek patēr, meaning father, has sometimes been proposed, although the precise connection is uncertain; patella and patina belong to a related family of dish words.
How patera is actually used
The word is specialized and literary or scholarly rather than common in everyday speech. It is most often used when describing ancient Greek or Roman tableware, ritual vessels, and archaeological finds.
Easily confused with patera
A patera is an ancient shallow dish or libation vessel, whereas a patella most commonly denotes the kneecap and, in anatomical terminology, a small cup-shaped structure.