Cymba (boat)

Cymba or Cumba (also Cymbe or Cumbe; Ancient Greek: κύμβη), from κύμβος meaning "a hollow",^[1]^[2] was a small boat, probably originally made from a hollowed-out tree trunk. It was commonly used on rivers and lakes, especially by fishermen. According to Pliny the Elder, the cymba was invented by the Phoenicians.^[2] It appears to have been much the same as the acatium (ἀκάτιον) and scapha (σκάφη).^[1]

Ancient poets, including Virgil, Horace and Propertius, refer to the cymba as the boat of Charon, the mythological ferryman of the dead.^[3]^[2]

The diminutive form cymbula was used for a small boat attached to larger vessels.^[2]

The ancient Greek drinking vessel cymbium (κυμβίον, κύμβος, κύμβη) derived its name from the boat.^[4]

Plants with names beginning with the prefixes "cymbi-" (such as Cymbidium, Cymbiferus/Cymbifera, Cymbifolius, Cymbiformis, Cymbispathus, Cymbispinus) or "cymbo-" (such as Cymbopogon) or "cymba-" (such as Cymbalaria) direved their names from the boat, due to parts of the plant being shaped like it.^[5]

References

^ ^a ^b A Dictionary of Greek and Roman Antiquities, John Murray, London, 1875, Cymba
^ ^a ^b ^c ^d A Dictionary of Greek and Roman Antiquities (1890), Cymba
^ Charlton T. Lewis, An Elementary Latin Dictionary, Cumba
^ A Dictionary of Greek and Roman Antiquities (1890), Cymbium
^ David Gledhill (2008). The Names of Plants. Cambridge University Press. p. 131. ISBN 9780521866453.

[A_Dictionary_of_Greek_and_Roman_Antiquities-John_Murray-Cymba-1] A Dictionary of Greek and Roman Antiquities, John Murray, London, 1875, Cymba

[A_Dictionary_of_Greek_and_Roman_Antiquities_(1890)-Cymba-2] A Dictionary of Greek and Roman Antiquities (1890), Cymba

[3] Charlton T. Lewis, An Elementary Latin Dictionary, Cumba

[4] A Dictionary of Greek and Roman Antiquities (1890), Cymbium

[5] David Gledhill (2008). The Names of Plants. Cambridge University Press. p. 131. ISBN 9780521866453.

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