From Latin acetum (vinegar); this goblet-shaped vessel with an indented wall profile served as a container for vinegar and honey, as a table and cooking vessel as well as a wax melting utensil; also used as a beaker amongst conjurers. Usually, the acetabulum was made of clay or glass, sometimes of precious metal. Its volume was very small (0,068 l [1]); in Apicius (6,8,3) and Apici excerpta a Vindario VI, the acetabulum is also equivalent to a cooking vessel.
Bibliography
1 F. Hultsch, s. v. A., RE I, 155 f.
G. Hilgers, Lat. Gefäßnamen, …