amphora

Meanings

1. A large, two-handled vessel, especially a thin-necked clay vat used in ancient Greece and Rome for storing and transporting wine and oil.
2. A Roman unit of liquid measure reckoned as the volume of 80 Roman pounds of wine and equivalent to about 26 L although differing slightly over time.
3. A Roman unit of ship capacity, similar to tonnage.
4. A lower valve of a fruit that opens transversely.

Etymology

From Latin amphora (“large wine vessel, Roman unit of liquid measure”), from Ancient Greek ἀμφορεύς (amphoreús, “two-handled pitcher, Greek units of liquid measure”), ultimately from Mycenaean Greek 𐀀𐀠𐀡𐀩𐀸 (a-pi-po-re-we, “carried on both sides”).